


Second Chances

by Narsil



Category: Ah! Megami-sama! | Oh My Goddess!, Ranma 1/2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Continuation, Crossover, Dubious Consent, F/F, F/M, Hiatus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-16
Updated: 2013-06-16
Packaged: 2017-12-15 03:19:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 74,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/844692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narsil/pseuds/Narsil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the wedding fiasco, Akane admits to Ranma that she's a lesbian and gives him a choice — to 'go girl', or accept that they will never be more than friends. Ranma's choice opens up second chances for not just them but many others, human and demonic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Accustomed to Her Face

**Author's Note:**

> **Warning:** Even more than _Lemon Flu: Aftermath_ , this story is on hiatus and probably won't be continued until after _Ranma, the Naive Succubus_ is complete. Partly, that's because after I had written quite a few of the chapters I decided to use much of Steve Jackson Games' _In Nomine_ setting as a basis and so need to do some rewriting and addition of notes. Mostly, though, it's because I decided to focus on one "Ranma as succubus" story at a time. The only reason I'm posting this here now is because I realized that my only copy of this story in its current form is stored on my personal computer and backup service, and if I accidentally deleted it much of the story would be irretrievably gone.
> 
> So while I have every intention of eventually picking this story up again and completing it, for now this is essentially a second backup. If you choose to check it out anyway, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have writing it.

For a place with a name of Pools of Sorrow, the valley of Jusenkyo was usually a very peaceful place. Quiet except for occasional birdsong, green and lush, the mist drifting across the multitude of pools with their bamboo poles a picture of serenity that would have appealed to the most jaded of landscape artists. Of course, there were no landscape artists, for the same reason that the pools were such a picture of serenity — Jusenkyo was so far out of the way that the owls hooted in the day time, and the natives avoided the place like the disaster waiting to happen that it was. In fact, Jusenkyo only had four permanent inhabitants, and in a few months, years at most, would have only two. One of them was currently sitting cross-legged on a bluff overlooking the pools that Ryoga would have found unhappily familiar.

Kason walked up and knelt behind his goddess lover, the demon’s arms circling her chest. “You shouldn’t let it bother you so much, Sanli,” he murmured. “After all, you were the one that taught me that sacrifice carries its own reward, whether or not it benefits others.”

The goddess in his arms nodded. “I know, love. And when Alanya’s spell on the pool she drowned herself in fails we’ll finally be able to marry. But she tried _so hard_ to free her fellow succubae, I hate to think that those conniving crones in Nyucheizu will succeed in throwing her sacrifice away while pretending to honor her memory.

“Still,” she continued, taking a deep breath and rising to her feet, pulling Kason along with her and giving him a sweetly saucy grin, “what will be, will be. The Symphony will sweep where it will. Our detection spells are firmly in place, no impromptu visitors are getting by us. So, how about some more practice for when we make a future of our own?”

Kason grinned to match his lover’s, before reaching up to gently stroke her cheek. “That sounds like a fine idea,” he agreed, as she shivered at his touch. Scooping her up in his arms, he walked away from the edge of the bluff into the forest.

/oOo\

_Man, that’s gonna need a lot of repair work,_ the black-haired pigtailed boy thought as he sat on the roof of the Tendo household as the stars came out, staring down at the trashed dojo. Ranma fidgeted slightly, as the soiled and burnt tuxedo he was still wearing from the failed wedding pinched slightly. _Hmph, not as much give as my usual clothes — good thing Kasumi had some hot water ready,_

A ladder thudded against the side of the roof, and a few seconds later Akane, the black-haired girl still in her western-style wedding dress, climbed up and sat down next to Ranma. Following his gaze to the dojo, she shook her head wryly. “Quite a day,” she said quietly.

“Yeah,” Ranma agreed. “And quite a few extra guests. Nabiki?”

“Yes.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, then Ranma asked nonchalantly, “So, do we owe her a thumping or a thank you?”

Glancing at her fiancé out of the corner of her eye, Akane shrugged. “You never did answer my question.”

“Question?” Ranma asked, feeling the stirrings of panic.

“Yes, my question. Ranma, do you love me?”

Ramna turned his eyes from the dojo to look at the stunningly beautiful girl beside him. “Akane, I … I … I …” His throat closed up, and he simply stared at her. _Here it comes,_ he thought, _Mallet-sama and Air Akane._

But to his surprise, Akane didn’t turn red, start yelling, or even tense up. Instead, she simply chuckled, and if the chuckle was somewhat forced there was still real humor in it. “You just can’t say it, can you?” she said, gently shaking her head. “So, let’s try it this way. Ranma, what you did for me in China, going up against Saffron — was it just a matter of honor? Am I just a matter of honor to you? Or something more?”

Ranma turned his eyes back to the dojo, and after a few moments whispered, “No, you aren’t just a matter of honor to me. You’re — something more.”

Akane nodded, eyes glistening. “Good enough,” she murmured.

Time passed in oddly comfortable silence, until Akane took a deep breath. “Ranma,” she said, “I’m glad to know that, because I have something important to tell you. While our fathers’ marriage plans were almost as much a surprise to me as they were to you, I was willing to go through with it, marry you, see you get your cure for the curse, do my best to be a good wife to you — and it would have been an enormous mistake, and probably a short marriage.”

The pigtailed boy sat and stared at her, gaping in shock. Finally, he simply stuttered, “Wh-why?”

Now it was Akane’s turn to stare down at the dojo below them for a few moments. Finally, she said, “Because … because, while I love you, I’m _in_ love with only half of you. Unfortunately, it’s the wrong half.” Looking up to find Ranma staring at her in confusion, she sighed. “Ranma, I’m a lesbian.”

Ranma simply sat frozen in place, staring at the girl he’d thought he’d known. Minutes passed, and finally Akane shrugged. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, and got up and started for the ladder.

That jolted Ranma out of his shock. “Wait!” he half-shouted, and Akane paused, looking back at him warily. He patted the roof next to him where she had been sitting. “Sit down, we … we need ta talk about this.” When she hesitated, he added, “… please.” Finally, she nodded and resumed her seat.

The two sat in tense silence for a few minutes, again staring at the dojo. Finally, Ranma asked, “How long have ya known?”

“Since before you arrived,” she said quietly.

“But … but what about Dr. Tofu? You had a crush on him!” Ranma protested.

Akane shook her head. “No, I didn’t. But I tried to convince myself I did — that I was actually bisexual, that I could have it all and still be me. Unfortunately …” Her voice trailed off and she shrugged.

A few more minutes passed, then Ranma said, “And have ya … done it? With a girl?”

Akane nodded jerkily. “Yes, a few times, with a couple, but not since you got here. After that, well, you were my fiancé. Besides,” she added in a whisper, “I fell in love with a certain redheaded cutie that day, and hoped that maybe … eventually …”

Silence again fell between the two fiancés, stretched out, becoming more and more oppressive, until Akane was squirming in place, stealing occasional glances at Ranma’s unusually thoughtful face still staring at the dojo.

Finally, Ranma sighed, and turn to look at her again. “Okay, now what?” he asked.

“That’s up to you,” she replied instantly, and the pigtailed boy stiffened.

“Me?” he asked, and Akane nodded, taking a deep breath and straightening up.

‘It’s simple. You can stay as you are, switch the engagement to Kasumi or Nabiki, and be my best friend, always — but that’s _all_ you’ll be, and eventually we’ll go our separate ways. But if you want more than that it’s going to have to be as a girl, and publicly, not just privately — whatever else, I’m tired of lying to almost everyone around me. Or you can decide you can’t handle either, and pack up and leave. It’ll hurt, a lot, but I’ll survive and you’ll be free — maybe …” — she choked up, fought her throat clear and gave a tremulous smile — “maybe go with Ukyo or Shampoo, if one of them doesn’t mind being second best.”

For a long moment Ranma stared at the lovely girl he had so often labeled a tomboy, at the hope and fear warring in her eyes. Finally, he shook his head. “I can’t give ya an answer, not yet. But I will, I’m not gonna just run out during the night. Just, I need ta think. So,” he added, standing up and holding out a hand, “why don’t I give ya a lift ta the ground?”

Forcing a smile, Akane grabbed his hand and let him pull her to her feet, then sweep her up in his arms. A quick hop to the ground and he placed her back on her feet, then turned toward the property wall. “Ranma!” Akane said, then when he stopped and looked at her, added, “Whatever you decide, thanks for at least thinking about it.” Ranma just smiled back, then ran to the wall and with a leap he was gone into the newly-fallen night.

/oOo\

A redheaded girl sat down under a bridge, grumbling to herself — _this_ time, it had been a car and a puddle. _Getting the curse locked might just be worth it, just ta stop the constant soakings,_ she thought with a wry smile. But the smile quickly fled, and she stared out into the night.

_So, Ranma, what do you do now?_ she thought, pulling her knees up to her chest. She thought of all the times she’d scammed food vendors, sharing her ill-gotten gains with Akane and her friends, laughing and relaxed, how _good_ it had felt to just let things go for awhile….

_But that was when ya knew it wasn’t permanent, it was just a … a break. Ya always knew ya’d be goin’ back ta being yer usual macho self. And face it, ya_ like _being that guy — facin’ the next challenger ta come down the pike, chasin’ after the latest Romeo goin’ fer Akane, running inta Ryoga with a new technique an’ learning how ta beat it … if ya go girl and you and Akane become a public item, how much chance that continues? Not much. And ya’ve always wanted to teach, bein’ known as a lesbian will hurt yer chances a’ running a dojo, badly. And if ya_ do _teach, it’ll probably be a different dojo—not much chance Mr. Tendo’ll let ya take over without marrying one a’ his daughters. So, that’s what ya probably lose if ya do it. But if ya don’t ya lose Akane._

Thoughts of the girl he’d met that first day at the dojo rose, all strength and lack of real training, by his standards at least, her beautiful smile, the way her face would cloud up when he said something stupid yet again, the cute pout when she was concentrating on school work, the tears the last time they’d visited her mother’s grave, the way she was (almost) always eager to help, to throw herself into a fight without worrying whether she actually had the skill needed to help, or even survive — Ranma slowly got up and walked to the park. Sitting on the edge of the fountain, she looked down at her reflection in the moonlight. _Isn’t it worth it, waking up ta this face every morning if hers is there next ta ya?_

For Ranma, it was a very long night.


	2. Honor Must Be Upheld

“Akane? Akane! You need to get up, it’s time to get ready if you want to eat before going to school!”

Akane slowly shook herself awake and looked around her room, then sat up on her bed. “I’m up, Kasumi, I’ll head down to the furo in just a second,” she called to her sister outside her door, then stood up and grimaced at the state of the wedding dress she was still wearing. _I guess waiting up for Ranma to come home wasn’t such a good idea, or at least not lying down for a few minutes after the first four hours,_ she thought sourly, ignoring the coil of worry working its way into her gut. Carefully, to avoid damaging it more than it already was, she slipped out of the dress, pulled on more day-to-day clothes, and headed for the furo.

/oOo\

Akane had just finished breakfast and Kasumi was handing her a bento at the door when a female Ranma walked past a just leaving Nabiki and through the door, still dressed in the tux their fathers had shoved him into the previous day (though now very much the worse for wear).

“Oh my, Ranma, you’re a mess!” Kasumi exclaimed. “Were you actually out all night?”

Ranma nodded tiredly. “Yeah, I had some thinking to do,” she said casually, then glanced at a tense Akane’s deer-in-the-headlight gaze and gave her a slight nod.

Akane slumped, blowing out her breath in relief, then gave Ranma a brilliant smile. “Well, get washed up. I’m sure Kasumi can make you an extra-large bento,” — with questioning look at Kasumi and getting a quick nod — “and if you hurry, we’ll still be on time without rushing.”

From just outside the door, Nabiki frowned thoughtfully at what she had just seen, but just said, “Well, I have people to meet before school starts, I’ll see you two at lunch,” before waving a quick farewell and resuming her walk to school.

/oOo\

Akane walked along to school in a little bubble of happiness, a broad smile on her face, glancing occasionally at the pigtailed boy walking alongside her dressed in his usual black and red. The only thing that could have made her happier was if it had been a pigtailed girl, but soon … _Soon!_

She was so caught up in her happy thoughts of the future that she didn’t even notice Ranma’s growing tension, until he suddenly stopped with a sigh. Nodding to the park across the street, Ranma said “Come on, Akane, we’re gonna be a little late fer school. We need ta talk.”

Jolted from her daydreams, Akane sobered at her fiancé’s serious tone, suddenly terrified, but quickly caught up to him as he headed for the park.

A few minutes later, Akane looked around as Ranma sat down on a park bench, and not seeing anyone within earshot hesitantly asked, “Ranma … you _are_ going to become a girl … right?”

“I’m willing to,” Ranma replied, and Akane sighed in relief only to stiffen as he continued, “but there’s a matter of honor to be taken care of first.”

“You mean the engagements? Or the sepukku contract?” a now confused Akane asked.

“Actually, only one engagement — ours,” Ranma replied. “I thought a lot last night, and decided that none of the other engagements matter ‘cause the Tendo one comes first. The fact that Pop made a bunch more false ones doesn’t matter to us, let _him_ deal with ‘em — or not.”

“Well, Ukyo isn’t going to like that,” Akane said with more than a hint of satisfaction, and Ranma grimaced.

“Yeah, well, after the way she showed up at our wedding throwin’ exploding okonomiyaki yesterday, I’m not sure I care,” he said. “We’ll hafta talk to her about that, an’ tell her what we’re gonna do — Shampoo, too.”

“And what _are_ we going to do?” Akane asked. “You’re saying that you’re going to become a girl, but that to satisfy honor we need to get married. We can’t do both!”

“Actually, according to the contract we don’t need to get married, we just need to unite the schools,” Ranma said with a smirk. “Our fathers talk like that means marriage, but it doesn’t, not really. We just need to train together, learn each other’s style, and … you need to have my kid, to pass the united school on.”

Akane froze, staring at Ranma. After a few minutes, she finally got her mind working enough to ask, “Have a kid — you mean, have sex with you as a guy, get pregnant?”

“Get pregnant, yeah,” Ranma agreed with a shrug, a faint blush growing on his face. “But not sex. I talked to Dr. Tofu at his new clinic this morning, an’ he says I can make a … a deposit, and you can use artificial insem — insemin — insemination. But you’ll have to wait a few years, somethin’ ‘bout your legal age.”

“Well, that’s something,” Akane said thoughtfully. “But, getting pregnant … I never really considered …” Her voice trailed off.

Ranma sat and watched her think for a few minutes, and finally said, “You know, you’re askin’ a lot of me, here. I _like_ being a guy, there aren’t many things more important to me — my honor, protectin’ the innocent, you. But you _are_ more important, so I’m willin’ to give it up to be with you.

“But what kind a’ price are you willin’ to pay, for us to be a couple?”

“I’m going public as a lesbian!” Akane almost shouted. “Do you think that’s going to be easy?!”

“Nah, but so am I, only unless we move out of town, for me it’s gonna be even worse ‘cause I used to be a guy. But that doesn’t matter, not really. Does my honor matter to you?”

At that Akane froze, staring at Ranma, then finally slumped. “You’re right,” she sighed. Then, with a forced chuckle, she asked, “So how are we going to do this? You said we’d have to wait a few years before I could get pregnant. You aren’t planning to wait that long before going girl, are you?”

“Yeah and no,” Ranma replied. “I figured I’d wait to lock the curse ‘til you’re pregnant, just in case, but start spending as much time as I can as a girl right away.”

“Right away? As in, today? Right now?”

“Well, maybe not quite that quick,” Ranma said. “There’s only a couple weeks left in the school year, so how ‘bout I still go to school as a guy and change to a girl after school? Then when school starts up again I can start attending as a girl, see if they’ll let me take the girls’ gym class. Sound good?”

“Sounds _very_ good,” Akane said, smiling brightly and with more than a little relief. Then standing up, she added, “Now, come on. If we run we still might make it before school starts.”


	3. Start Spreading the News

Akane looked up from where she was sitting against a tree as a cute redhead walked out of the school doors, then stood and walked over to join her. As the two headed for the gate, she chuckled. “Good thing teachers can assign only so much detention for one day, or you’d be there till midnight,” she teased.

Ranma laughed. “Nah, yer overstatin’, it’d only be till nine, ten tops. Haven’t they figured out yet that class is where I need to catch up on my sleep?”

Akane’s chuckles turned into laughter as well, and she reached out to take Ranma’s hand. Then, turning sober, she asked, “So how do we handle this?”

“Well,” Ranma said, “between naps I did some thinkin’ and we ought to just get it all out in the open. So what say we hit Ucchan’s, then the Cat Café, and then maybe have a little talk at dinner tonight?”

Akane paled, her grip on Ranma’s hand tightening. “Tonight? Right now?” she squeaked, and Ranma shrugged.

“Ya did say you were tired of hidin’ what ya are, didn’t you?” she asked.

“Well, yes, but …”

“But yer scared of how people will take it,” Ranma finished, and Akane tensed.

“I am not!” she shouted, and Ranma laughed. Akane whirled to face her. “And how about you?” she demanded.

Ranma’s laughter cut off. “I …. well …” She reached up and tugged on her pigtail. “I’m … a little nervous. It isn’t gonna be fun.”

“No, it isn’t,” Akane agreed with a sigh, slumping. “But I suppose you’re right, we might as well get it over with instead of spending however long worrying about it. So, Ukyo first?”

“Might as well,” Ranma agreed with a shrug.

The two started walking towards Ucchan’s, when suddenly Akane perked up, grinning. “And I know a way to make people wonder a little before we tell them — a change of hair style!”

“What?!”

“Sure, we undo the braid, brush it out, and put it up in a pony-tail!” Akane enthused.

“No.”

“But, Ranma …”

“No. I may be going girl, but I am not going all girly,” Ranma said firmly.

Akane fell silent for a time as they walked along. Finally, she said, “Ranma, you don’t need to go all girly, but you did say you’d go girl. Are you going to fight every little change that makes you look more feminine?”

“Akane, I … listen, we’ll undo the pigtail, brush it out, but we’ll tie it back at the neck instead of a pony-tail, kind of like you had your hair when we first met. Actually, I wore my hair like that before the Dragon Whisker, so it’s nothin’ new.”

Akane lit up with the brilliant smile Ranma loved, and Ranma shook her head with an answering smile of her own.

/oOo\

Ukyo looked up at the sound of customers coming through the front door and froze, even as the restaurant’s apparent waitress’s greeting stuttered to a halt. Ranma and Akane, _here_? After what she’d done at the wedding yesterday, she’d thought … and they were holding hands, with Ranma in girl form no less! Pasting on a smile, the young okonomiyaki chef called out, “Hey Ranma, Akane, grab a seat, I’ll be with you in a minute.” The couple — and they _were_ a couple — waved agreement and followed Konatsu to a table a little away from the few customers taking an early supper or late lunch. Head whirling with shock and speculation, Ukyo turned back to the orders she was already working on while starting on Ranma’s and Akane’s usual.

“So,” Ukyo said a few minutes later, sliding Ranma’s and Akane’s dishes in front of them and sitting down at the table, giving Ranma a smile while pointedly ignoring Akane. “What brings you here, Ranma? I’m happy to see you, but after yesterday I’m a little surprised. And what’s up with the hair?”

“Yeah, about that …” Ranma paused to take a few bites, then sighed. “Ukyo, I’m not gonna pretend I like what ya did, tossing explosive okonomiyaki around, but ya helped do us a favor. Still, why? I thought we were friends.”

Ukyo opened her mouth to give the standard line about Ranma being hers and how she was the cute fiancée, but stopped and sat back, looking over at Akane, and finally shrugged. “Ranma,” she said softly, “you know how I feel about you.”

Fidgeting a bit uncomfortably, Ranma looked down at the table and nodded. “Yeah, I do,” she mumbled. “But Ukyo … yer my best friend, but …”

“Yeah, I know … the ‘I hope we can be friends’ speech. You’re even the right sex for it,” Ukyo said with a forced chuckle, then shrugged, with a nod at Akane. “Still, you don’t really need to trot it out, it’s been obvious for awhile who’s won the fiancée war.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense!” Akane burst out. “If you’ve given up, why’d you attack the wedding?”

Ukyo stared at her for a long moment, eyes narrowed, then asked, “Tell me, Akane, when you dream of Ranma, is it of the black-haired hunk or the redheaded cutie?”

Akane froze, chin dropping. After a few moments, she whispered, “You _know_? How long?”

Ukyo gave a feral grin. “I didn’t, it was a guess, but it looks like I guessed right. And you didn’t tell Ranma, did you, before you agreed to stand at the altar with him?”

“No, she didn’t, she told me after,” Ranma said, and Ukyo’s eyes shot to her face.

“She _did_? But then why are you still with her, and looking like that — oh, Ranma, what are you doing?”

“What ya think, I think — I’m, what was that saying, switching sides?”

“Close enough,” Ukyo said with a pained chuckle. “You, of all people ... you care for her that much ... I never had a chance, did I?”

An uncomfortable silence fell, her question unanswered. Finally Ranma hesitantly said, “Uh, Ukyo … how’s this gonna affect things with yer family, with you?”

“Don’t worry about me, Ranma, I’ll be fine,” Ukyo said firmly, then at Ranma’s doubtful look waved at the restaurant. “All this? It’s mine, all of it, Father can’t touch it. And with Konatsu’s help it’s doing well, I’m actually thinking of looking for a bigger location.”

Just then new customers walked through the door, and Ukyo stood up with carefully hidden relief. “Hey, you guys enjoy the meal, I gotta get back to work.” Starting toward the kitchen, the cute chef paused for a long moment, then turned back around. “And guys? Good luck. And whatever happens, you two are always welcome here.” Not waiting for a reply, she turned back and hurried for the kitchen.

A few minutes later, the couple got up, waved their goodbyes, and headed for the door. Ukyo waved back, then turned back to her cooking, wiping at her eyes when she found herself having difficulty seeing what she was doing.

A moment later, she jerked as a gentle hand landed on her shoulder, and she whirled to find Konatsu beside her. “Ukyo-sama, are you all right?” the kunoichi asked in a low voice.

Ukyo took a deep breath, then nodded, pasting on a smile. “Sure, Sugar, no problem. So what have you got for me?”


	4. A Crossroads Deal

Ranma and Akane looked at each other as they stepped out of Ucchan’s. “Well,” Ranma said, “that went easier than I expected.”

“Yes, it did,” Akane agreed, frowning thoughtfully. “I just hope it isn’t balanced out at the Cat Café.”

Ranma nodded agreement. “C’mon, let’s find out.”

A few minutes later, Shampoo looked up in shock as the couple walked through the front door of the Cat Café, taking in Ranma’s hair loosed from its pigtail and bound at the back of her neck, then her eyes narrowed at their clasped hands. “Aiyah, what Kitchen Destroyer doing with _Airen_?” the purple-haired Amazon demanded, and Akane gave her a triumphant grin.

“No, not your _Airen_ , not now or ever!” she asserted proudly, not noticing Ranma’s slight wince.

Xian Pu growled, stepping forward and falling into a crouch, then froze as Ranma let go of Akane’s hand and stepped between them. She wasn’t fooled by the apparent slackness of Ranma’s stance, and quickly stepped back. “ _Airen_?”

Ranma stared at her, face expressionless, then shrugged. “I’m here ta talk,” she said casually, “but after what you did at the wedding yesterday, if you’d rather fight I’ll be happy to do that, too.”

Suddenly Ku Lon was there between the two. “No, there will be no fighting. Xian Pu, turn over the ‘Closed’ sign, once our current customers have left we will talk.” _And I’d better make sure Mu Tse stays occupied in the back._

/\

Some free ramen and an explanation later, Ku Lon leaned back and contemplated the two teenage girls sitting across the table from her, hands again clasped together between them. “So, an interesting story,” she said, “but why are you here telling it to us?”

“Because of Shampoo,” Ranma said. “I need ta know how this’ll affect those crazy laws of yours.”

Ku Lon frowned thoughtfully as Xian Pu finally shook herself free of her shock at what she’d just heard and turned her own eyes toward her great-grandmother. “Those laws have served us well for longer than your people can remember, son-in- — Ranma. Still, a very good question,” the ancient matriarch said. “First, your decision to live your life as a woman has precedent — the combination of your status as an Outsider and the Jusenkyo curse means that from now on you will be considered a woman, and the Kiss of Marriage is no longer valid.

“ _But_ ,” she continued as Xian Pu’s face fell and Ranma and Akane broke out in grins, “the Kiss of Death once again becomes valid.”

The grins vanished from Ranma’s and Akane’s faces, and Xian Pu gave her great-grandmother a horrified look. “No, must be some way to stop that!” she shouted, and Ku Lon nodded.

“Actually, child, there is. Ranma will have to become your battle sister and an ally of the tribe. Then, she will not be considered a true Outsider even if she isn’t a full member of the tribe, and the Kiss of Death will not apply.”

Ranma stared at Ku Lon for a moment, then asked, “And you didn’t mention this before because … ?”

Ku Lon shrugged. “I didn’t think you would be desperate enough to give up your manhood as a way to avoid Xian Pu’s attentions. Besides, I was looking for ways to convince you to join us, not escape your obligations.”

Akane turned red and started to rise, only to freeze then slowly sit back down, retort unsaid, when Ranma tugged on her hand and shook her head.

“Okay, so what’s a battle sister, and what would I have to do as an ally of the tribe?” the redhead asked, and Ku Lon shrugged again.

“As an ally, if we are attacked you’d be expected to help us as best you can, and provide a place to stay for any Amazons passing through,” she said. “And a battle sister is what it sounds like — in the case of battle, you will guard each other’s backs. Actually, since you already have a battle mate,” — nodding to Akane — “that would be the three of you.”

Ranma gazed thoughtfully at Ku Lon for a time, then glanced at a visibly worried Xian Pu and sighed. “All right,” she said. “How do we do this?”

Carefully allowing no sign of her relief show, Ku Lon pursed her lips in thought. “I assume you have no wish to travel to the village,” she said, then smiled at Ranma’s snort. “Right. In that case, it will be at least … three weeks. Several other elders will need to join us as witnesses, and they will need to bring a barrel of Jusenkyo water, for the Rite of Passage ceremony.”

“What!?” This time, Ranma made no effort to restrain Akane as she thrust herself to her feet. “What on earth do we need Jusenkyo water for — what _kind_ of water?”

“Water of the Drowned Champion,” Ku Lon said calmly. “Sit, child, and I will explain.” Slowly, a glowering Akane took her seat and Ku Lon continued.

“Three centuries ago, when I was a child, an outsider named Alanya came to the tribe. While she never joined the tribe, in time it came to seem as if she had. She studied our ways, trained with us, fought at our side … in time she became our unofficial champion and when we again fought a particularly brutal war with the Musk she was ever at the forefront.”

Ku Lon’s voice had softened and now fell silent, as she gazed into the past. Finally, Ranma said, “Did ya actually know her?”

Ku Lon smiled wistfully and nodded. “Yes, Ranma, I am barely old enough to remember her — I was a young child at the time of that war with the Musk, not even old enough to start training for war. She was a woman of exotic beauty, and always willing to spend a few moments with a little girl that followed her everywhere she could. She had the most wonderful stories....

“At any rate,” Ku Lon continued more briskly, sitting up straighter, “she was fascinated by the cursed springs of Jusenkyo, and spent many hours studying them. And then came the day when we learned that not only was she a great warrior, but a great sorceress, the day we found her dead body floating in one of the pools. The village went into mourning, even as the elders gathered her effects, mainly books she had brought with her or found on her occasional trips away from the village into the rest of China. Among her possessions a letter was discovered, explaining what she had done.

“It turned out that in her home country she had been the next thing to a slave to an even more powerful sorceress, and had led a rebellion against the tyrant — a rebellion that failed, thanks to magical chains held by her mistress binding her and all those that sided with her and died in the doing.

“Her rebellion a failure and her friends all dead, she had fled and wandered the world seeking a way to free herself from the chains that had cost her so much. She never did find the answer she sought, but in the end found an alternative — one that would give that freedom to another along with all her power, but at the cost of her life.

“Somehow, she succeeded in altering the workings of that particular spring, so that everyone that comes into contact with that spring’s water is judged, the pool searching for the one worthy of bearing Alanya’s legacy and taking up her cause. After reading of this, and the other writings she had left for her successor, the elders chose to honor her wishes and hold those writings for whoever that successor might be.

“More, they chose to incorporate her sacrifice into our Coming of Age ceremony, so that now every girl bathes in Alanya’s pool the day she becomes a warrior, to see if perhaps she might be the one found worthy. So far, no one has, but each hopes it will be her in honor of Alanya’s faithfulness. And as well, every woman that becomes an ally of the tribe bathes in the water to see if perhaps she might be Alanya returned to us.”

Ranma was smiling softly, and even Akane’s suspicious glower had faded. Finally Ranma shook herself. “All right,” she said. “You got a deal — get the elders and yer water here, and I’ll go through the rite an’ become Shampoo’s battler sister.” Taking Akane’s hand again she said, “Well, me and Akane have gotta get going, more people ta talk to.”

“Yes, it seems you are going to have an interesting evening,” Ku Lon said with an ironic smile.

Xian Pu had been sitting quietly, a troubled look on her face, as Ku Lon had told her story, and now as her former _Airen_ and rival got up to leave, she said, “Ranma, one thing —” then winced as Ku Lon poked her in the side with her staff.

“Carefully, child!” Ku Lon hissed, and Xian Pu hesitated, then smiled weakly as the couple turned around at the door.

“Good luck,” she called.

Ranma grinned. “Hey, don’t ya know? Saotome Ranma never loses!” And with that and a jaunty wave the two girls were gone.

Xian Pu slumped, then in her native tongue said, {Great-grandmother, why didn’t you tell Ranma the full story of Champion Alanya?}

{Because if I had, she would have almost certainly refused to risk the waters. And do you really want to be forced to choose between pursuing Ranma until one of you dies, or becoming a servant to the village, or to be banished forever? Those are your choices.}

Her head in her hands, Xian Pu murmured, {I suppose you are right, but I don’t like it. It feels ... dirty, dishonorable.}

{Good!} Ku Lon said, and chuckled when Xian Pu looked up at her in surprise. {Xian Pu, you will find as you rise in position in the village that the more power you wield, the more necessary it is to balance honor against necessity. But you should never stop wishing it didn’t have to be so. At any rate, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about,} Ku Lon added as she rose to reopen the restaurant. {After all, Amazon maidens have been made into warriors with the pool’s waters for centuries, with not a hint of Alanya’s heritage coming to life.}

{Great-grandmother, this is _Ranma_ ,} Xian Pu chided, and Ku Lon paused as she reached for the “Closed” sign.

{That, child, is a very good point,} she conceded thoughtfully. {I believe I will ask that whatever elders come here bring several of the tribe’s best warriors and the copies of Alanya’s writings with them … just in case.}


	5. The New Coach

Akane and Ranma were walking down the hall towards Akane’s room, when Nabiki opened her door and leaned against the frame. “Well, the two lovebirds are finally home,” she said with a knowing smirk. “Step in, we need to talk.”

_What now?_ a by now slightly bleary-eyed Ranma thought as she exchanged a questioning glance with Akane.

Akane shrugged. “Might as well,” she said, and Nabiki stepped back out of the way and waved the couple toward her bed.

As the two sat down (and Ranma stifled a yawn) Nabiki closed and locked her door, turned up her music, and pulled out the chair at her desk and sat down with her arms crossed on the chair’s back.

The pageboy-haired girl looked at her sister and prospective brother-in-law for a long moment, then said, “You weren’t as quiet as you could have been at Ucchan’s. It’s a good thing my informant was the closest customer to you, and she _thinks_ from the lack of reaction that nobody else could hear.”

Akane just shrugged. “So what if they did? It isn’t as if it isn’t going to be common knowledge soon enough.”

“Yeah,” Ranma agreed with a grin. “Nothing here you can use to extort money outta us, too bad.”

Nabiki’s smirk vanished. After a moment’s silence she said, “Ranma, I’m not apologizing for how I’ve treated you, but it isn’t something you need to worry about in the future. At least, not except for photos and the like.”

“Yeah, right,” Ranma said with a snort, but Nabiki just shrugged.

“Before, you were just a punk kid freeloading off the family. Now, thanks to Akane’s choice, you _are_ family.”

“But Nabiki, Ranma’s been my fiancé for almost two years!” Akane protested, and the knowing smirk reappeared on Nabiki’s face.

“True,” she said nonchalantly, “but I’ve known you’re a lesbian since before Ranma arrived, so I never took it seriously.”

Akane stiffened, gaping, and Nabiki chuckled. “You weren’t as careful as you should have been the last night you spent with Yuka and Sayuri, and one of my people caught you on camera.” Suddenly, Nabiki brightened and straightened up. “Hey, now I’ll be able to stop paying her that monthly stipend!”

“Wait, _you_ were paying blackmail to protect Akane?” Ranma asked incredulously, and Nabiki sighed. “Yes, I have been, she’s family. Believe it or not I’m not a monster. Anyway, now that you’ve cleared the air between you two and Ranma’s decided to live as a girl, how are you going to handle this?”

“Akane says she’s tired of hiding and I’m not much good at lying, so we just figured we’d tell everyone,” Ranma responded with a shrug, and Nabiki chuckled.

“I thought it would be something like that — neither of you are big on subtlety. But Ranma, do you still plan to teach?”

The redheaded girl nodded, but with a troubled look on her face. “Yeah, at least I’m gonna try. I’m not sure how many students I’m gonna get, though — it’d be tough enough for a normal girl, it’ll be even tougher for a lesbian.”

“You could be right,” Nabiki agreed. “Things are changing, but in the martial arts community not so much. So if you’ll take some advice, don’t go public.”

“I …” Akane broke off, thought for a moment, tried again. “Nabiki, I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t want to live a lie my whole life!”

“So don’t. Don’t lie about it, but don’t talk about it, either — Ranma can spend most of her time as a girl, you two can get married when Ranma’s old enough, and let people think what they will.”

“But what about the fathers? There’s no way they’re going to put up with me spendin’ my time as a girl if we don’t force it,” Ranma protested, but Nabiki waved it away.

“Oh, that’s for the general public, for family and close friends you can be as public as you say you want — you’ll have to, actually. So when did you intend to let everyone know?”

“Tonight,” Akane said curtly.

Nabiki’s eyebrows rose. “Well, when you two finally make up your minds, you don’t mess around. I’ll look forward to the evening’s entertainment. One final suggestion, though — talk to Kasumi, first, get her support. She’ll be a big help dealing with the fathers _if_ she isn’t reeling from the shock herself, and you’ll need it.”

Ranma nodded. “Good idea —” she started, then broke off with a huge yawn, and Akane smiled.

“Maybe so,” the youngest Tendo said, “but you leave it to me and grab that nap you were headed for. Let’s get your stuff moved to my room, and then you can sleep until dinner.”

“Right,” Ranma agreed, and the couple rose and headed for the door. As Akane unlocked the door, Ranma turned back, reaching up and scratching the back of her neck. “Uh, Nabiki … thanks.”

Nabiki quirked an eyebrow, then actually smiled. “You’re welcome — and welcome to the family.”

/oOo\

Akane finished hanging up the last of Ranma’s clothing (such as it was) in her closet, walked over and stood smiling down at the petite redhead sleeping on her bed, then frowned slightly. _The bed’s not going to have much room for the two of us._ Then, grinning, _Which, now that I think about it, isn’t_ that _big a problem. Still, maybe I’d better talk to Nabiki about getting a bigger one._

Then, bracing herself slightly, _And now you’ve run out of things to do to put this off. Remember, you wanted this._ Reaching down, she ran her fingers gently along Ranma’s cheek, then turned and quietly left the room and headed for the stairs.

/\

Kasumi smiled happily as she stood at the kitchen counter contemplating the dinner preparations ahead, then frowned slightly as she looked out the window at the mess in the yard around the damaged dojo. _That_ was going to take some serious work, and Nabiki had actually winced slightly when Kasumi had asked her about once again hiring the workmen needed. Kasumi’s frown deepened as she thought about that wince. _I know Nabiki can perhaps be … over-eager … when trying to earn a little extra cash, but what was she_ thinking _, inviting some of those people? She had to know what would happen …_

“Uh, Kasumi?”

The eldest sister turned at the sound of her youngest sister’s voice, smiling brightly. “Oh, hello, Akane. I’m afraid dinner won’t be ready for another hour …”

Then the sight of an unusually hesitant and nervous Akane standing in the kitchen doorway registered, and Kasumi’s smiled died. “Akane, what’s wrong?” she asked quietly, and Akane stepped inside and slid the door closed.

Kasumi, I have something to tell you …”


	6. A surprising ally (or perhaps not)

Kasumi gently knocked on Akane’s door. “Akane? Dinner’s ready,” she called softly.

“Thanks, big sis,” she heard Akane call back. “Ranma and I will be down in a minute.”

“All right, I’ll see you downstairs,” she responded, and turned away toward the stairs, her expression grim. For a change, she was _not_ looking forward to dinner.

Inside the room, Akane sighed and gathered up the homework she’d been studying and put it back in her schoolbag, then swiveled to the right and gazed at Ranma. The redheaded girl had sprawled out a bit and was softly snoring. Akane smiled wistfully at the sight, then her smile turned impish. Standing up, she leaned over Ranma and laid a gentle kiss on Ranma’s slightly parted lips.

Ranma’s eyes shot open, and with a yelp she rolled against the wall as an outthrust arm knocked Akane back a few steps. Sitting up and frantically looking around, Ranma relaxed as she realized she and Akane were alone in the room, then noticed Akane rubbing her breastbone. Blushing, she reached up to scratch the back of her neck. “Uh, sorry ‘bout that,” she muttered. “Guess I’m a little … nervous.”

Akane just chuckled, shaking her head ruefully. “I suppose I shouldn’t blame you, after the way we … I … treated you.”

“Hey, that was a better way to wake up than a bucket of cold water,” Ranma said lightly, then flinched as Akane tensed.

Akane closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then forced herself to relax. “It’s time for dinner,” she said in a forcibly light tone, opening her eyes and reaching out a hand.

Ranma nodded and took the offered hand as she got off the bed. “Sorry,” she muttered, then stiffened as Akane pulled her into a hug, relaxing after a moment when nothing else happened.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Akane whispered. “If anything, I should be the one to apologize. You’re right, it is a better way to wake you up — _much_ better.”

Ranma was completely lost, at sea in a totally new situation, but she finally hesitantly returned the hug for a long moment, then pushed them apart and forced a smile. “Let’s go eat — and remember, let me do most of the talkin’ afterward, ya don’t want ta lose your temper.”

/oOo\

Genma put down his chopsticks and looked around at the rest of those sitting on the floor around the table, his eyes flinching away from the diminutive Grandmaster of his Anything Goes school of martial arts. Seeing that everyone else other than Ranma and Akane across the table from him seemed to have finished their meals, he growled, “All right, boy, dinner’s over. Now, why are you still in your girl form?”

“Yes,” Nodoka, sitting beside her husband, added with a frown, fingering the Saotome honor blade by her side. “And why have you changed your hairstyle? It doesn’t seem very manly.”

“Mom, this is the way I wore my hair for years, until the Dragon Whisker,” Ranma responded, rolling her eyes. “I’ve seen plenty of men wearing their hair long and tying it back exactly the same way. Not that it matters, since the seppuku contract is no longer valid.”

Genma froze, blanching, as Nodoka’s grip on the sword’s hilt tightened. “And how is it no longer valid? Such honor pacts cannot be simply cast aside!” she asserted firmly.

Out of sight beneath the table Akane’s hand gripped Ranma’s tightly as she took a deep breath and braced herself. “Simple,” the youngest Tendo responded. “Yesterday evening, I told Ranma I’m a lesbian, and Ranma’s agreed to be a girl that spends some of her time as a guy instead of the other way around from now on. Oh, and she’s moved into my room, too.” Looking over at Nabiki, she said, “Hey, big sis, how about getting a bigger bed?”

Hiding a wince, Nabiki forced a smile. “I don’t know, little sis, money’s going to be a little tight for awhile, but we’ll see.”

“So,” Ranma finished nonchalantly, “no son to be manly, no seppuku contract.”

Then, as Soun joined Genma in white-faced shock and Nodoka started to draw her sword, the redhead added coldly, “And if ya want that blade ta remain in one piece, you’ll leave it in its scabbard.”

Nodoka instantly stopped her draw, then after a long moment slid the half-drawn blade back. “Ranma, have you lost all honor?” she managed to whisper in a strangled voice.

In a voice cold as ice, Ranma said, “No, I’m just done letting others define my own honor for me. From now on _I_ decide what my honor requires, not you, definitely not Pop, not anybody. If you decide that makes me unfit to be a Saotome, then go ahead and declare me ronin, maybe you’ll have time to have another kid to carry on the Saotome line.”

As Nodoka opened her mouth to reply and paused, searching for something — anything — to say to change Ranma’s mind, and with Soun still reeling from the blow, tears like a waterfall pouring down his face, Genma spoke up. “And what about the family agreement, boy, are you going to throw that aside just as easily?” he asked harshly.

Ranma shook her head. “No,” she said. “Maybe we’ll get married once I reach legal age, maybe we won’t, we haven’t really talked about it, but Akane’s agreed ta have my kid, and we’ll train it in both our styles. That’ll satisfy the agreement ta ‘join the schools’.”

“And what if the child is a girl?” Genma demanded, and Ranma shrugged.

“Then the child’s a girl,” she offhandedly replied.

Genma seemed to swell, face turning red, as Soun finally found his voice.  “WAAAAAAAAAH!!! My daughter and her fiancé are perverts, now the schools will never be joined!”

Nabiki and Kasumi exchanged angry glances across the table. Nabiki gave a slight nod and Kasumi opened her mouth to intervene, when Happosai’s voice cut across Soun’s wail. “Enough!”

Soun’s wail of anguish cut off as the two fathers stared in horror at their old Master. “But, Master — !” Genma started.

“I said enough!” Happosai said, then looked over at Ranma from his place beside Kasumi. “So, my boy — sorry, my girl — you’ve finally grown a backbone. I was hoping your opposition to my little amusements might eventually spill over into other areas, but this works just as well — even better, actually,” he added, giving Ranma and Akane a happy leer.

Everyone at the table stared at the shrunken gnome, until Ranma finally said, “You mean all this time, all the panty raids, it was all an act?!”

“Oh, no,” Happosai disagreed. “No, my delight in my pretties and taking comfort from warm embraces is real enough — when you get my age you need some harmless diversions to keep life interesting. But I hardly needed to pursue them _here_ , did I? I could have just as easily moved to another ward, or city, and been able to enjoy myself in peace. And now that you’ve finally taken your future in your own hands, I may do just that. Though the opportunities around here have just gotten even more attractive,” he added lasciviously as Akane blushed and Ranma tensed up, beginning to snarl. “But first, how about your other fiancées?”

“Already handled,” Ranma said, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to calm down. “I spoke to Ukyo and Cologne this afternoon. Ukyo says she’ll be fine, and Cologne’s come up with a way ta get me out of the Kisses now that I’m going girl — I just need ta become a battle sister ta Shampoo and an ally of the tribe, and we’re good.”

“Hmmm. So you’ll be headed to China to bathe in the Spring of Drowned Champion?” Happosai asked, but Ranma shook her head.

“No, some other Elders will be coming here with a barrel of water.”

“I see — good, you should stay away from that village as much as you can.” Happosai nodded approvingly, but Akane shivered as she felt a chill run down her spine at the cheerful speculation she thought she saw in the old pervert’s smile.

“But Master, the schools!” Soun half-wailed, only to shrink at Happosai’s glare.

“Whether and how that agreement is kept will be up to Ranma to decide for herself — after all, ‘anything goes’.” Then, a malicious smile crossing his face, Happosai added, “And to keep you two morons from interfering while Ranma and Akane are settling in, I think a training trip is in order — say, a month?” he asked, glancing at Ranma and Akane.

The two exchanged a look and a now grinning Akane gave a slight nod. “Sure,” Ranma said cheerfully. “Pop’s been gettin’ lazy lately, he could use a good workout!”

Then, looking around the table, Ranma said, “I think that about covers it for now. I didn’t get any sleep last night, so I’m headed to bed.” Blushing and glancing over at Akane she added, “Join me?”

Akane blushed beet-red but nodded and the two rose, still holding hands, her blush deepening as Nabiki gave a little whistle.

“Remember,” the middle Tendo called out, ignoring Kasumi’s slight frown, “sleep does mean sleep, don’t stay up too late and keep the noise down!”

Ranma’s blush now equaled her fiancée’s, but the two wisely ignored the jibe as they walked out of the room and headed for the stairs.


	7. You Dance

Ranma and Akane stepped into her — their — room, and Ranma slowly moved to the center of the room as Akane turned to lock the door behind them, then stepped past her to turn down the top sheet and blanket on the bed. The redhead’s eyes wandered around the room as if she’d never been there before. She’d been so confident, even eager in a way, when they’d been downstairs — riding a high from facing down the parents, and thinking of years of frustration. But now …

“Ranma?”

Ranma turned on hearing Akane almost whisper her name, and at the mixture of eagerness and happiness shining from Akane’s face felt something akin to panic curdling in her gut. Her hand rose to scratch the back of her neck. “Uh, yeah, Akane …” she managed to get out before trailing off, and Akane chuckled.

“Is the big, bad Ranma scared?” she asked, smiling gently, and Ranma stiffened.

“Hey, I’m not afraid of nothin’,” she asserted, and Akane laughed, shaking her head.

“Ranma, when it comes to challenges you’re too predictable.”

“Huh?” Ranma asked, confused.

“The way you can’t turn down a challenge, it makes you predictable, easy for someone like Nabiki to manipulate,” Akane said. “But let’s talk about that later, there’s something more important right now.”

Walking over to her soon-to-be lover, Akane wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, pulling her into a hug. For a moment Ranma stiffened, then slowly relaxed and tentatively wrapped her own arms around Akane.

For a few minutes the girls just stood there, Akane simply luxuriating in the moment. But, after a little bit she started to notice what seemed to be shivers running through her fiancé’s body. Was Ranma really _that_ … nervous?

“Ranma? Have you ever … well, done it with someone?” she quietly asked, and felt Ranma freeze, then slowly relax and actually heard her chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” Akane asked.

“If you were a guy, I’d be pretending ya didn’t ask, or blowin’ off the question. From the way the guys act, you’d think being a virgin was the worst thing in the world, makin’ ya a complete wimp, and of course they all are.”

Akane rolled her eyes. “Right, all boys are perverts, tell me something I _don’t_ know. So … have you?”

She felt Ranma shake her head. “Nah — even if I’d really wanted to sleep with one a’ the others, there wasn’t one a’ you three that I could a’ slept with without blowin’ everything sky high. But … I have, well … practiced.”

“That isn’t going to do us much good right now,” Akane said, laughing softly, only to feel Ranma shake her head again.

“Uh … I meant as both.”

“Both boy _and_ girl?” Akane asked, flabbergasted, and Ranma nodded.

“Yeah, a few times, when I was sure nobody was around.”

“Well, that’s different,” Akane said with a smile, as she started slowly running her hands up and down Ranma’s back and along her sides.

“And what about you?” Ranma asked as her shivering slowly eased off. “Nabiki said she’d caught ya with Yuka and Sayuri — they’re lesbians, too?”

Akane nodded. “Yes, and have been a couple since before you met them, though they do like to … share.”

“Ah. And you say all boys are perverts?”

“Well … some girls, too,” Akane admitted. Then, after a moment added, “And I suppose that includes me, since I took them up on their invitation a few times, before I met you.” Suddenly, Akane laughed again. “Hey, that means that for once I know more than you do about one of the Arts!”

For a moment Ranma stiffened again, in outrage this time, then relaxed with a chuckle of her own. “Maybe ya have a point about me and challenges,” she mused. “I do seem ta want ta be better than everybody at everything, don’t I?” Then, arms still around Akane’s waist, she leaned back and smiled as she looked Akane in the eye. “But I guess this time I need a teacher rather than a challenger, right?”

“Right!” Akane agreed, then slowly bent her head to gently kiss Ranma full on the lips.

For a moment there was no response, then Ranma returned the kiss as Akane’s hands again started running along her back. Ranma’s mouth opened slightly in a soft moan, then her eyes widened as Akane took advantage to slip her tongue between the parted lips and explore Ranma’s mouth. As their tongues began to circle each other, one of Akane’s hand slipped up to the back of Ranma’s head, slowly untying the strap tying her hair into a tail, while Akane’s other hand started opening Ranma’s familiar red shirt, starting at the bottom and slowly working its way up.

Reluctantly breaking the kiss when the hand in front had worked its way up to where their breasts pressed together, Akane stepped back and quickly finished opening Ranma’s shirt, her breath catching as it fell open to slide down Ranma’s arms, revealing the twin treasures she’d seen before but not nearly often enough. Suddenly, she laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Ranma asked with a quizzical look.

“Just remembering the first day we met, when you said you were better built than I am. A couple of years later, and you still have bigger breasts than I do.”

“Uh, that doesn’t still bother you?” Ranma asked, fidgeting, then gasped as Akane reached out to lift the twin mounds in her palms, thumbs brushing across the nipples.

“No,” Akane murmured, “because they’re mine, now, too.” Dipping her head, she sucked one stiffening nipple into her mouth, tongue caressing the rosy tip.  One hand gently massaged the other breast while the other reached down to loosen Ranma’s pants, then slipped inside.

Ranma moaned softly as she felt the warm wetness of another’s mouth on her breast for the first time, one hand rising to the back of Akane’s head, holding it in place, while the other caressed Akane’s back in imitation of what Akane had done to her a minute earlier. They’d just gotten started, and it was already better than what she’d felt when masturbating! Then Akane’s hand slipped inside her pants and Ranma gasped again, knees going weak, as a finger slid between her lower lips, then easily slipped up inside her.

Akane giggled as she felt the pressure of Ranma’s hand on her shoulder, using her as a brace to stay upright. “Oh my!” she said in imitation of her oldest sister, “you’re already wet! We’d better get your clothes off before we soak them!” Pulling her hand out of Ranma’s pants, she quickly loosened them completely, slipped them and the inevitable boxers down to Ranma’s ankles in one pull, then with one arm behind Ranma’s knees and the other under her arms swept Ranma off her feet and with a few steps laid her on their bed. Reaching down, she quickly slid the pants completely off then stepped back to run her admiring gaze the length of her lover’s body, eyes shining. “Ranma, you’re beautiful,” she whispered.

Ranma jolted at the words, mouth open to deny them, then paused and swallowed the hot retort. _Watch it, Ranma, that’s not an insult — not anymore._ “Yeah,” she said instead, “so are you.” Then with a cute grin that made Akane’s heart flutter, added, “At least, I _think_ so — you’re still dressed.”

Akane blushed. “Oh, right,” she muttered, busying herself with her own clothing’s various fastenings. Her clothes quickly joined Ranma’s on the floor, and she turned toward the bed then paused for a long moment, striking a pose and smiling as Ranma’s eyes lit up at the sight. After a few seconds, she walked over to the bed. “Move over, Ranma,” she said in a husky voice, “I want to lie down.”

To Akane’s surprise, instead of moving over Ranma sat up crosslegged on the bed. “Uh, Akane, do you … do you have any … any toys?” she managed to get out, and Akane stared in shock even as she blushed.

“Uh, well … why do you ask?” she asked, and Ranma grinned.

“You do, don’t you,” she stated.

Akane nodded jerkily. “Yes … gifts from Sayuri and Yuka — Sayuri’s mom buys them for her. They think it’s funny to get me Christmas presents I can’t show to the family.”

“Pull them out and let me see,” Ranma said.

Instead, Akane sat next to the redhead. “Ranma, do you really think we’ll need them?” she asked.

“No, from what you were doin’ ta me just now we could do fine without them. But I have an idea, so please?”

Akane gazed at Ranma for a long moment, then sighed and got up, walked over to her closet, and pulled out a locked wooden box. Getting a key from her bookbag, she walked back to the bed, unlocked it, and handed it to Ranma.

Ranma’s eyes widened at the sight of the box’s contents. “Ya said these are gifts?” she asked as she started taking them out and putting them on the bed, and chuckling at Akane’s nod. “Yup, you were right, girls can definitely be perverts. I can understand the vibrator and dildo, but handcuffs and a blindfold? And what’s …” Ranma’s voice trailed off as she pulled out a two-headed strap-on dildo.

Akane’s blush had never quite died away, and now it turned crimson. “Uh … that one, and the handcuffs and blindfold … are actually for you.”

“For me? !”

“Yeah — they said that if I ever actually caught you, you could use the strap-on to be a guy while you’re a girl, and the handcuffs and blindfold were for if we wanted to try out your guy form, so I could use my imagination.”

Ranma looked at the items now on the bed thoughtfully, then started putting them away. Akane sighed softly in relief as the redhead put the handcuffs and blindfold, vibrator and dildo back in the box, then stiffened when Ranma closed the box with the strap-on still in hand.

“This will be perfect,” Ranma said, and Akane flinched.

“Ranma, please, for our first time at least, could you not be a … an imitation boy?” she asked carefully, but Ranma shook her head.

“Ya don’t understand, I want _you_ ta wear it, not me.”

“What — me? But … why?” Akane asked, now completely lost, and Ranma sighed, fidgeting.

“I told ya I’d be a girl for ya, and I want my first time ta be as much like a girl as possible — kinda hard ta get more girlish than this,” she said, holding up the strap-on.

Akane nodded slowly, that made sense in a weird sort of way. “Are you sure?” she asked softly, then smiled at Ranma’s nod. “All right, but first we have to get me ready.”

“Ready?” Ranma asked, and Akane nodded.

“Ready,” she repeated. “You don’t just shove something like this up inside you, you need lubrication — and the best is the natural kind.”

“Natural — ya mean that’s why I’d get all wet? In that case come here,” Ranma said, scooting over against the wall to make room for Akane.

Akane eagerly lay down beside her, then gasped when Ranma immediately rolled on top of her, only to have the gasp cut off when their lips met. As the kiss lengthened and deepened, it was Ranma’s turn to slide her hand down through the trimmed black bush and between Akane’s legs, slowly sliding a finger along her cleft, then slipping it up into her already dampening hole as Akane’s legs separated to make room. Twisting and slightly hooking her finger, slowly pumping it in and out, Ranma broke the kiss and smiled when she felt Akane jerk slightly. “I’d say I found what I was looking for,” she said.

Akane laughed softly, then sucked in a breath as Ranma hit the spot again. “Yes, I’d say your practice as a girl is definitely paying off,” she said breathlessly, then moaned again as Ranma bent down to gently suckle one of her pert breasts.

An endless time later, Ranma lifted her head from Akane’s breast to ask, “Akane, do ya think you’re wet enough?”

Slowly coming back to herself, Akane, slid a hand from her other breast down to her nether lips. “Oh yes, I’m practically dripping. Help me put it on?”

“Of course,” Ranma said, and picking the strap-on up from the bed, slid down to slip the straps over Akane’s feet and up along her legs. Akane spread her legs wider, then winced as Ranma started to push the dildo’s head up between her lips and inside.

“Not so hard!” she gasped, and Ranma paused.

“Sorry,” she muttered, then started again more slowly, a bit deeper with each push. Soon the dildo was all the way inside, and Akane stood to adjust the straps.

“Okay, Ranma, your turn!” Akane said eagerly. “Lie back and spread those beautiful legs.”

“Uh, I don’t think I’m wet enough,” a suddenly nervous Ranma said, and Akane grinned.

“I know, that’s what I’m going to take care of,” she responded, then bent down to place her head between Ranma’s legs. She took a deep breath, enjoying the scent of Ranma’s arousal, and it was Ranma’s turn to gasp and clutch at the sheets as she felt Akane’s tongue slip between her folds to savor the flavor of her juices.

_Oh yes, this is_ definitely _better than ‘do it yourself’,_ Ranma thought fuzzily as one of her hands rose to a breast and the other found the back of her lover’s head.

All too soon Akane lifted her head, Ranma’s juices coating her chin and around her mouth. “You’re definitely ready now,” she said. Then, suddenly serious, she added, “Ranma, remember, this is supposed to be fun, not a chance to prove how tough you are. If it hurts, tell me.” Waiting for Ranma’s answering nod, she sat up and knelt on the bed.

Ranma felt as if she’d been doused with a bucket of cold water (a sensation she knew well) as Akane slipped up between her legs and lifted and spread her knees, and she felt the tip of the dildo slide along her dripping nether lips then slowly push them apart. _Remember, Ranma, you asked for this,_ she thought, eyes closed, then gasped as she felt herself stretching to accept the intrusion into her most intimate parts. Opening her eyes, she watched the rise and fall of Akane’s firm breasts as each gentle thrust of Akane’s hips pushed the translucent blue fake cock deeper into her depths until at last their hips met.

With that, Akane paused. “Ranma, are you all right?” she asked. Then at Ranma’s convulsive nod she smiled and leaned down, supporting her weight on her arms on either side of the redhead with their breasts pressed together, and kissed Ranma gently. “So let’s do this,” she whispered, and slowly began to undulate her hips.

Ranma stiffened at the sensations beginning to wash through her, instinctively wrapping her legs around Akane’s waist. “Oh, yes … Akane, that feels so good,” she gasped out, and Akane smiled happily (and with more than a touch of relief) and slowly picked up the pace, setting a steady rhythm marked by her lover’s gasps and moans as sweat beaded on her skin from the effort.

Through the waves of pleasure breaking out from her seemingly burning hot cleft, Ranma looked up at the face of her best friend, her face framed by sweat-plastered hair, then reached her arms up between Akane’s sides and arms and around her shoulder blades, pulling her down against her and into another searing kiss.

Akane paused for the kiss, then broke free to bury her face in Ranma’s shoulder and pant as she resumed her pumping, feeling Ranma’s hips now pushing up to meet each thrust.

Suddenly, Ranma stiffened, back arched, and the room reverberated with her scream of passion as her orgasm broke and her mind fuzzed out from the rush of pleasure like she had never dreamed was possible. Her body jerked and quivered from the aftershocks, and Akane clutched at the spasming girl until the shaking stopped and Ranma went limp.

“Wow!” the sweat-slick redhead finally gasped out. “That was incredible!”

“What did you say?” Akane asked playfully. “I’m having a little trouble hearing you after your scream right into my ear.”

“Uh, I screamed?” Ranma asked, blushing.

“Very loudly,” Akane agreed. “I hope the neighbors don’t call the police.”

“Um, sorry ‘bout that,” Ranma mumbled, and Akane chuckled as she slowly pushed herself upright and back, the dildo popping free and dropping onto the soaked sheets under Ranma’s ass.

“Don’t worry about it — this time,” the youngest Tendo said. “But if we’re going to have anything like an active love life you’ll need to learn not to do that — or maybe a gag,” she added thoughtfully, then laughed at Ranma’s bemused expression.

“And now,” she said as she stood and started loosening the dildo’s straps, “it really is time to sleep.”

“But what about you? You haven’t —” Ranma started, then broke off for an ear-to-ear yawn.

Akane gently pulled her end of the dildo free of its dripping sheath and dropped it to the floor — cleaning it could wait. “But this was your special first, and you didn’t sleep last night. There’ll be plenty of time for you to show how much you love me later.” She turned off the lights, made her way back to the bed, and lay down to spoon up against her lover, pulling the bedsheet and blanket up over their sweat-slicked bodies. “Good night, love,” she said softly.

“Good night, Akane … thanks,” Ranma muttered drowsily, already drifting off to sleep, and Akane sighed happily.

“No, thank _you_ ,” she whispered as the redhead she’d hopelessly loved for almost two years started to softly snore.

/\

In the family room, the fathers already gone with Happosai on their impromptu training trip, three women looked up toward the ceiling as Ranma’s orgasmic scream clearly came through. “Oh, my!” Kasumi exclaimed, blushing a deep red, and Nabiki shook her head.

“And here I told them to keep it down. I see I’ll have to be more forceful,” she said mock sorrowfully, then grinned broadly.

Nodoka slowly rose to her feet, staring at the ceiling as her face took on a slightly greenish hue. Finally, she turned to the other two and in an unsteady tone said, “I believe I will call it a night.” Stumbling slightly she made her way to the doorway. There, she turned around and looked back at Kasumi. “I will spend the night in the dojo, and tomorrow I will find a hotel to stay at until repairs on my home are complete.”

Nabiki grinned sardonically, but Kasumi shot her a quelling frown and the younger girl swallowed her retort. Turning back to the older woman, Kasumi quietly said, “I am sorry to hear that, Ranma will miss you.”

A wistful expression flitted across Nodoka’s face, but she shook her head. “No, it’s better this way, until I …” Her voice trailed off, and she turned and slowly made her way down the hall toward the dojo.


	8. The Future War Leader

Akane slowly opened her eyes to the sound of someone knocking on her door, and smiled to find her vision obscured by Ranma’s red hair. _It really happened,_ she thought contentedly.

“Akane? Ranma?” came Kasumi’s voice. “It’s time to get up. You’ll need to clean up before school.”

_What!_ Akane glanced up at the alarm clock on her headboard, then groaned at the time. “Thanks, Kasumi, I’m up, we’ll be down in a minute!” she called out, then gently shook the shoulder of the girl spooned back against her. “Come on, Ranma, time to get up,” she reluctantly murmured, and the naked redhead stirred, then sat up, blanket falling to her waist, and stretched with a yawn. Ranma looked around, then down at Akane gazing appreciatively at the bountiful assets her actions had revealed.

Blushing slightly, Ranma smiled back. “Uh, good morning?” she hesitantly asked, and Akane’s smile broadened into a grin.

“A very good morning, indeed,” she purred, and Ranma’s blush deepened. “Still,” Akane continued with a sigh, “we don’t have time for it to be as good as it could be. Let’s get to the furo.”

“Sure, you go first,” Ranma offered, but Akane shook her head.

“No time, we’ll have to use it together.” _And I wonder if big sister timed it that way on purpose?_

“But, I’ll be a guy,” Ranma protested.

Akane shrugged. “It isn’t like I haven’t seen you naked as a guy before. Besides, we’ll be getting clean, not having fun — though now that I think of it, you’ll be a girl for the scrub down. I’ll do your back — and front — if you’ll do mine,” she added, leering a bit, and Ranma nodded happily.

/\

Kasumi looked up from her seat on the floor at the table as Akane and Ranma, once again a pigtailed boy, walked into the family room. “You’re a little late, Nabiki’s already left,” the eldest Tendo sister said as the pair joined her at the table, and the pair blushed slightly.

“Uh, we had ta clean up a bit,” Ranma said, and Akane’s blush deepened as Kasumi sternly suppressed a sudden urge to giggle.

“Well,” Kasumi said serenely, “I’m sure that the two of you working together were able to speed things up.” _Odd, I thought it was Nabiki that liked to mix things up._

Now Ranma’s blush had caught up with Akane’s, and he quickly glanced around looking for a distraction, then frowned. “Where’s Mom?” he asked, and Kasumi stiffened.

“Ranma, your mother … she … she’s not here,” Kasumi said hesitantly.

Ranma froze for a long moment, then forced himself to relax. “She’s not coming back, is she?” he asked. “Did she throw me out of the family on her way out?”

Unable to face the pain hiding behind Ranma’s relaxed expression, Kasumi looked down at her clasped hands. “Auntie Nodoka said she’d be staying at a hotel until her home is repaired, but said nothing about declaring you ronin.”

Ranma shrugged. “Huh, I guess that’s a p-plus,” he said, his voice cracking slightly at the end, and Akane reached out to pull him into a one-armed hug.

“I’m sure she’ll be back,” she said comfortingly, and Kasumi quickly nodded agreement.

“Your mother loves you,” Kasumi asserted, “but your decisions, both to live as a girl and to ... to become Akane’s lover, hit her hard. I’m sure once she’s had time to reconcile herself to what you’ve done she’ll be back.”

“Well, we’ll see,” Ranma said, then with forced lightheartedness added, “C’mon, Akane, let’s eat, we’re gonna be late for the morning beatdown if we don’t hurry. Just think, in a couple a’ weeks we won’t have to deal with Kuno every morning!”

/oOo\

Akane smiled at Yuka and Sayuri as the two sat down beside her, bentos in hand, then her gaze returned to Ranma, her smile softening, where he was sitting under a different tree with his usual two hangers-on.

“So you finally caught him, did you?” Yuka asked with a knowing smile. “Or should I say ‘her’?”

Akane’s eyes darted back to her friends. “What makes you say that?” she asked with an attempt at nonchalance, and her friends giggled.

“Girl, you’ve been _glowing_ all day, and you keep staring off at nothing,” Sayuri said. “In fact, you look a lot like my big sister the day after she finally caught her boyfriend. To us, that means you got laid last night by someone important to you that you’ve been chasing, and the only person that describes is a certain redhead. So, are we right?”

Blushing faintly, Akane nodded. “Mostly. Actually, Ranma was the one that got laid, in her girl form. More, she’s agreed to live as a girl!”

Her friends’ eyes widened at that. “Wow! That’s a lot more than we expected. Have you told anyone else about it yet?” Sayuri asked.

“Yes, Ukyo, the Amazons, and our families. But we aren’t going to make a big deal out of it with anyone else — we won’t lie about it, and after the school year ends we won’t hide it, but we won’t be ‘in your face’ about it, either.” The other two girls nodded, looking somewhat wistful, but Akane frowned slightly.

Catching the frown, Yuka asked, “So what’s the fly in the ointment?”

For a moment it seemed that Akane wasn’t going to answer, but finally she sighed and shrugged. “It hasn’t been all good. The fathers objected, of course, but Happosai sided with us and has taken them off on an extended training trip. But Ranma’s mother … didn’t take it very well, and that hit Ranma harder than I expected.”

Sayuri shook her head. “No surprise there, you know Yuka’s mother is a big reason we’re so careful. But that’s not all of it, girlfriend, something’s got you worried, not just sad. So what’s up?”

“Nothing, really — at least, I don’t _think_ so. It’s just that … well … there’s a ceremony Ranma has to go through to get Shampoo off her back, and I think there’s something they aren’t telling us — something Happosai knows about, and isn’t telling us, either.”

“Kitchen Destroyer smart girl, sometimes,” said Xian Pu from the tree above the three girls, and the purple-haired girl dropped down beside them. Yuka and Sayuri flinched back, and Akane rose to her feet, fists clenched.

“What do you want?” she snarled, and Xian Pu stepped back, hands raised.

“Shampoo no want to fight. Will Kitchen Destroyer and _Ai_ — New Girl be home in bedroom tonight?”

Slowly, Akane nodded.

“Good!” Xian Pu said. “Leave window open, Shampoo be there, talk then!” And with that, even as Ranma ran up to join them she leaped back up into the tree, with only a slight rustling of new leaves to mark her passage out of the tree and over the wall around school grounds.

“So what did _she_ want?” the pigtailed boy asked suspiciously, and Akane shrugged.

“It looks like we’re getting a visitor tonight.”

/oOo\

Catching herself glancing up from her homework yet again to look out her and Ranma’s open bedroom window at the gathering darkness, Akane finally gave up trying to study and leaned forward with her arms braced on her desk and simply stared out into the dusk. “What do you think is keeping her?” she asked.

“Dunno,” Ranma replied from where she lay on their bed’s fresh sheets, without looking up from the history book she was reading. “Busy night at the Cat Café, can’t get Mousse to leave her alone, a lot of deliveries … could be a lot of things. She’ll get here when she gets here.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I just — Aaah!” At the sudden appearance of Xian Pu’s face directly in front of her, Akane tried to spring backwards, tangled herself up in her chair, and a chuckling Ranma rolled off the bed to catch her lover before she could crack her head on the floor and found herself keeping a furious Akane from attacking their laughing visitor.

A few minutes later Ranma finally got Akane calmed down, and from where the two sat on their bed she asked, “So, what’s so important ya wanted ta meet us in secret?”

A still-chuckling Xian Pu went instantly serious. “It … it about ritual for New Girl to become Amazon ally,” she said quietly, and Ranma’s eyebrows rose at her new name while Akane erupted.

“I _knew_ it! It’s a trap, that bitch is trying to lock Ranma in guy form, isn’t she?”

“No!” a glaring Xian Pu almost shouted, and Ranma gripped Akane’s shoulder.

“Easy, girls, remember, this is supposed ta be a _secret_ meeting. So, Shampoo,” the redhead asked, turning to the girl seated at Akane’s desk, “if it isn’t a trap, what’s the problem?”

A tense Xian Pu looked down at the floor. “Everything Great-grandmother say was true, but not whole truth. Alanya was great warrior, great sorceress, great-hearted person, but … not human. She was demon,” Xian Pu whispered. “She reason Amazons not consider all demons evil, kill on sight if able.”

She fell silent, and when it became obvious she wasn’t going to say anything else, Ranma finally asked, “So why didn’t the ol’ ghoul tell us, instead of you sneaking over here to tell us yourself?”

“Because she afraid that if she tell, New Girl refuse to become battle sister, ally. Then Shampoo have to kill New Girl or die trying, or become servant of all other Amazons for life, or leave village forever if not willing. Besides, probably nothing happen but New Girl get wet.”

“So why are you telling us now?” Akane asked suspiciously, and Xian Pu looked up briefly to glare at her formal rival before looking back down at the floor.

“Because not right to let New Girl risk become demon without telling first,” Xian Pu said quietly. “Great-grandmother say Elder need to balance honor and need, sometimes act without honor but not lose love of honor, but Shampoo no can do that.” With a half-laugh/half-sob, she added, “Even if New Girl still become battle sister, ally, Shampoo have to give up dream to be Elder, be War Leader instead, between battles train warriors, train children when too old. Would be good life.”

She fell silent, and for a few minutes the pair on the bed simply stared at the tense, miserable girl huddled on the chair, barely recognizable as the usual bubbly-cheerful girl they knew. Finally, the redhead got up from the bed and walked over to put her hand on Xian Pu’s shoulder. “Shampoo, thanks for tellin’ me. And don’t worry, I’m still willing to go through with the ceremony, you won’t have to become a slave or outcast.”

Xian Pu slumped in relief, explosively releasing the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, then leaped to her feet and glomped a surprised Ranma. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she exclaimed, then when she calmed down smiled wistfully at a glaring Akane over Ranma’s shoulder. “Kitchen Destroyer very lucky girl,” she said, and the glare vanished as Akane smiled back.

“I certainly think so,” she replied.

Xian Pu finally released an almost panicking Ranma, then jumped up onto the desk and moved to the window. “And now Shampoo have to get back to work, Great-grandmother will be angry at how long delivery take. Good night!” and she was gone.

/\

In the next room, Nabiki slowly removed and unplugged her headphones and put them back in their secret compartment in the floor, then just as slowly got ready for bed, turned out the light, and getting into bed stared up at the darkened ceiling. Sleep was a long time coming that night.


	9. Nabiki on the Case

Ku Lon looked up as she heard the front door to the Cat Café open, and carefully didn’t react at the sight of the brown-haired girl with the pageboy haircut looking at her from where she stood in the entrance.

_Not good,_ she thought as she pogoed toward her latest customer. _It’s never good when_ this _one comes around._

Stopping before Nabiki, the Amazon matriarch bowed slightly. “Welcome, Nabiki Tendo. What brings you to the Cat Café this afternoon?”

Nabiki returned Ku Lon’s bow. “Elder Ku Lon, we need to talk,” she said, and her eyes flitted to Mu Tse cleaning up a table a few yards away, then to the doorway to the back.

Ku Lon smiled inwardly even as her tension went up a notch. _It is nice to deal with someone that uses her brain instead of her fists to think with, for a change._  She said, “Of course. Mousse, put up the closed sign, then get started on cleaning the pots.” Turning back to Nabiki, she added, “Would you like some tea?”

Nabiki’s face tightened ever so slightly at the trust implied in her acceptance of the simple courtesy, then relaxed and she nodded. “Of course, thank you.”

A few minutes later, Ku Lon finished pouring tea for the two of them and sat down across the table from Nabiki. “So,” she said nonchalantly, “what does the ‘Mercenary Girl’ want with an old woman?”

Nabiki smiled slightly, took a sip of her tea, eyes widening at its quality, then carefully set the cup aside with a regretful sigh. “Much as I would enjoy a conversational duel, I’m afraid I don’t have time,” she said regretfully. “Shampoo will only be gone on her delivery for so long.”

Eyes sharpening, Ku Lon also set aside her cup and leaned forward. “And what has that girl done to annoy you enough to bring you here?” she asked.

Nabiki shook her head. “Herself, nothing. But she did pay a visit to Ranma and Akane a few nights ago with some interesting information you left out of the story you told them about Alanya.”

Ku Lon’s eyes narrowed slightly even as a knot at her core relaxed for the first time in over a year. “I see,” she said calmly. “I’m surprised that you were invited to their discussion.”

“I wasn’t,” Nabiki said with a tight smile. “But I listened in, anyway — I thought anything Shampoo wanted to talk to them about secretly was likely to be important to the family, and I was right.”

“So, just what did Shampoo tell them?” Ku Lon asked, and Nabiki shrugged.

“Not much,” she replied, “just that the Champion that is somehow involved in whatever ritual Ranma’s using to get her off his — her — back was a demon, and so Ranma risks becoming one as well.” Nabiki grimaced. “Ranma’s still going through with it, whatever the risk, which might be why neither she nor my sister thought to ask just what _kind_ of demon she’ll turn into if the odds go against her.” Then, her eyes turning hard, she asked, “So, just what kind of demon is Ranma risking?”

Ku Lon gazed at the middle Tendo for a time, testing her patience. When Nabiki’s gaze failed to waver, Ku Lon sighed and nodded. “Very well, I suppose if I failed to tell you, you would probably be able to convince Ranma not to go through with it until I did.

“Alanya was a succubus — a _real_ one, not the ludicrous myths the Europeans built up around the type out of fear, ignorance, and superstition.”

“Meaning … ?” Nabiki asked.

“Meaning, she isn’t an incorporeal spirit of hideous appearance that feeds on people’s dreams. Succubae are Earth Demons, their breed has no separate realm in the spirit world and cannot be summoned. The succubae’s natural form is a winged and tailed female but they can hide the wings and tail, take male shape if they choose, and modify their appearance as well. With practice, they can look like anyone they choose. They do not need to eat or drink, but can in order to preserve appearances. They feed off of human life force, absorbed at the point of climax for their partner during sex, with the amount of life force able to be absorbed determined by the length of time they are in physical contact, and are able to use that absorbed life force for any number of effects — Alanya wrote that no one mature succubus had exactly the same abilities as another. Also, their natural prey is men—they can absorb the life force of women, enough to handle daily needs without harm, but if they take too much at one time and are independent, they risk turning the woman into a succubus bound to her ‘mother’.

“It was the bond especially that Alanya was concerned about. So long as that bond exists, the subordinate succubus cannot create her own ‘children’, has feelings of love for her ‘mother’ imposed on her, and has great difficulty in disobeying any direct order her ‘mother’ gives her. The bond cannot be broken except by the death of the ‘mother’, though it can be voluntarily relinquished.”

Gazing at the wall hangings decorating the café, Ku Lon mused, “I suspect its original purpose was to bind a new succubus to her ‘mother’ long enough for her to grow accustomed to her new state and prevent her from creating more succubae by mistake, but that purpose was perverted by the succubus Alanya only called the Bitch Queen in her writings. Apparently, that succubus refused to free her ‘children’ after they’d adjusted, and set out to kill all succubae that weren’t her minions — you can hardly call them her children, since she couldn’t care less about their welfare. It must have taken centuries, but Alanya believed she’d succeeded — at least, Alanya never encountered any that weren’t her sisters in her wanderings after her rebellion failed. With her modifications to what became her pool at Jusenkyo, she hoped to someday create a succubus independent of the Bitch Queen, able to defend herself from the moment of her ‘birth’ and eventually able to challenge her Mistress and free her sisters, but one that wouldn’t abuse her powers the way the Bitch Queen did.”

Nabiki nodded thoughtfully. “So if Ranma was to become a succubus, she would be instantly independent, able to create new succubae.”

“Exactly,” Ku Lon agreed. “Worse, her energy reserves will be nonexistent so she will be _very_ hungry.”

“So we need to make sure there’s a man available, just in case,” Nabiki said, and Ku Lon chuckled.

“ ‘Men’, actually — and of no great endurance when it comes to sex, or Ranma would risk killing her ‘dinner’ by mistake.” Ku Lon waved her hand dismissively. “No need to worry, child, along with the elders needed as witnesses and their accompanying warriors will be several men of that description. They are an integral part of the ceremony for just that purpose.”

Nabiki mostly hid a relieved smile, and nodded respectfully to the Elder. “Good, I don’t have to figure out how to supply them myself without letting them know why I need them, not to mention trying to learn their sexual endurance — not something my own network is really set up for. I should have known after three hundred years you would have already worked out the details.”

Ku Lon studied the teenager thoughtfully. “You don’t seem to be very upset with me because of my deception, child,” she said neutrally, but Nabiki waved off the comment with a snort.

“If I tried to act like I was I would be doing just that — acting — and you’re too observant to be fooled for long.”

“But if you care about what happens to Ranma at all — and you apparently do or you wouldn’t be here — why aren’t you upset?” Ku Lon asked.

“Actually, it’s Akane I _really_ care about, emotionally at least. But Ranma has chosen to accept her offer to become her mate and that makes her one of my people,” Nabiki corrected. ‘Family is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you.’ Caring about someone doesn’t enter into it.

“As for why I’m not upset, I may act hypocritical from time to time, but I try not to _be_ a hypocrite — that can lead you into misjudgments, possibly serious ones. So you’re a barbarian — you take care of your own, and the rest of the world can go hang for all you care. I’m the same way, I’m supposed to be angry that someone acts just like I do?

“Now,” she continued, leaning forward, “I’ll need to know just what this ceremony entails....”

/\

“I’m back!” Xian Pu cheerily called out as she bounced into the Cat Café, then frowned slightly. Why was the closed sign up?

“Xian Pu, please join us,” Ku Lon said from a table in the back, and Xian Pu’s felt her heart turn to ice at the sight of Nabiki sitting with her great-grandmother.

“What Mercenary Girl do here?” she asked suspiciously as she walked toward the pair, and Ku Lon chuckled.

“Not so mercenary this time, seeing how she’s looking out for her family. She told me of a little visit you made to the Tendo dojo a few days ago, and asked for more information on what Ranma and Akane might be facing.”

Xian Pu blanched and stumbled. “G-great-grandmother, I … I …”

Ku Lon simply shook her head gently. “You simply couldn’t accept not letting Ranma know what she was risking, whatever it cost you, correct?”

Xian Pu bowed her head contritely. “Yes, Great-grandmother.”

“And you’ve decided to give up your dream of becoming an Elder and become the War Leader instead, correct?”

“Yes, Great-grandmother. Becoming an Elder is great honor, but not honor Shampoo want if must give up own honor.”

“Good!” Ku Lon said, breaking out into a large, happy smile, and Xian Pu raised her head to stare at her in shock.

“G-g-great-g-grandmother?” she stammered, and Ku Lon’s smile softened.

“Child,” she said softly, “If you had chosen to continue your quest to become an Elder I would have supported you. In spite of the necessities of the office it is an honorable calling. But the truth is that you will be happier as War Leader than you would ever be as an Elder. However,” Ku Lon continued as Xian Pu relaxed in relief, “that doesn’t excuse your decision to go behind my back in warning Ranma — a War Leader that undercuts the Elders is a danger to the village. So, consider yourself grounded. You are not to leave the restaurant except to make deliveries until the other Elders and their entourage arrives.”

“Yes, Great-grandmother,” Xian Pu meekly agreed, careful to keep her confusion from showing on her face. _That’s it? That’s all the punishment for flagrant disobedience? I … I suppose she must truly agree with my decision...._

Nabiki had been watching the conversation with a cynical smile on her face. Now she stood up, clapping lightly. “Well, thank you for the floor show, it was very entertaining. But now, I have to get back to the dojo.” And with a jaunty wave goodbye, she headed out the door.


	10. Looking to the Future

Akane sighed as she and the pigtailed boy beside her walked out of the school gate. It was Friday, the weekend was upon them and she and Ranma didn’t intend to leave the house (Nabiki was muttering about how honeymoons were really for the benefit of everyone _other_ than the couple, and how long did they think they could get by on that little sleep, anyway?).  There was only one more week of school and then Ranma would start spending all his — her! — time as a girl instead of the afternoons and nights, the fiancée war was over (though the way Ranma had given up on hints and simply told Kodachi off outright when she’d shown up the other day probably would need some reinforcement, however priceless a moment it had been, especially once rumors spread to Kodachi’s circle), the youngest Tendo should have been happier than she’d been in years, right?

Walking beside her, Ranma glanced at his lover and frowned slightly. “Alright, Akane, something’s been bugging ya for days, what is it?” he asked.

“What, besides the fact that in a few weeks you’re going to risk turning into a demon, Nabiki’s been giving us odd looks, Ukyo hasn’t been back to school since we talked to her and rumor is she’s dropped out to run her restaurant full time, and the fathers will be back in around three weeks and almost certainly back to their old tricks?” Akane asked rhetorically, and Ranma chuckled.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “besides those. You’ve been gettin’ more and more tense ever since Shampoo’s visit, and I don’t think it has anything to do with any a’ what ya just said — ya don’t really care what Nabiki thinks, we’ve been dealing with the fathers for years, and ya don’t even _like_ Ukyo. So, what is it?”

After a long moment, Akane shrugged, then nodded to the park coming up. A few minutes later, the two were sitting on what Akane was beginning to think of their “trouble bench,” the same bench they’d been sitting on on Monday when Ranma had laid out his counter-offer.

Ranma waited patiently as Akane struggled with herself, and finally she shrugged and spoke. “Ranma, I’ve been thinking about what you said on Monday when you asked me to have your child, when you asked if your honor mattered to me.”

Ranma tensed, reaching up to tug on his pigtail. “Well, I might a’ been a little harsh …”

“No, you weren’t, you were exactly right,” Akane instantly disagreed. “If we’re actually going to be a couple, your honor _should_ be important to me, and is. And that’s why …” Pausing, the youngest Tendo took a deep breath. “That’s why I don’t think we should wait until I reach majority for me to get pregnant.”

Ranma froze, stunned speechless. Finally, he stuttered, “B-b-but, the clinic won’t g-get ya pregnant until then, we _hafta_ wait!”

“No, we don’t,” Akane said softly. “After all, most women don’t use clinics to get pregnant, do they?”

“But … you … I … Akane, you don’t even _like_ my guy form!” Ranma burst out, but Akane shook her head.

“Oh, I like your male half well enough, I’m just not _attracted_ to it, can’t really imagine it as part of an intimate relationship more than temporarily, and certainly not physically. But, well … you’ve used that strap-on on me a few times now, I certainly enjoyed both times, and I think between those memories and the blindfold I should be able to get by.”

She fell silent, and neither spoke for a time. Finally, Ranma softly asked, “Why?”

“Because of the ceremony coming up in a few weeks,” Akane replied. “You mentioned waiting to get your curse locked until I get pregnant, just in case, but if you do turn into this demon you’ll be worse than locked — at least if you’re locked we might be able to find a way to unlock it.”

Now it was Ranma’s turn to sit and think while Akane waited, fidgeting with growing nerves as the minutes passed.

“Ya know the odds are that nothin’ will happen at the ceremony beside’s me gettin’ wet,” Ranma suddenly said, and Akane jerked in surprise, then nodded.

“Yes.”

“And ya know odds are ya won’t get pregnant,” Ranma continued.

“Yes.”

“And ya know if ya do get pregnant, you’ll be goin’ ta school with both the rumors of ya bein’ a lesbian _and_ yer pregnancy makin’ things hard for you.”

“Yes. Though one ought to help offset the other,” Akane added wryly.

“And you still want to do this?”

“No, I don’t, not really,” Akane said with a shrug. “I just think that we _need_ to do this. That way, if things don’t go the way we expect, you end up a demon, the deposit gets lost or used or whatever, and I never have your child, we’ll at least be able to say we did our best.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Ranma said slowly. “So when do ya want to do it?”

“Tonight,” Akane said reluctantly. “I’m at my most fertile point in my cycle right now, we aren’t going to get better odds.”

Ranma nodded and stood up. “Make that right now — if we’re gonna do it, we might as well do it. Remember, Nabiki said she had ta meet with someone this afternoon, and not to expect her for dinner, and Kasumi said she’d probably be out shopping when we got back from school, so we’ll have the house ta ourselves.” With a smile, he added, “Ya won’t even hafta _try_ ta keep quiet!”

/oOo\

Akane opened the bedroom door for the cute redhead walking behind her carrying a full water glass, a thermos, and a small bowl with a washcloth. Ranma walked through and over to the table beside their new bed (and definitely larger, Nabiki had come through nicely) and put down her load and loosened the thermos top, then pulled off the top sheets of the bed and moved the pillows to the foot before turning around to find Akane already slipping out of her clothes. Ranma smiled at the sight as she began opening her own shirt, watching as Akane’s blouse dropped to the floor, her firm, pert breasts jiggling slightly as her bra came off and landed on the blouse, Akane reaching back to unzip her skirt, pushing her panties down along her smoothly muscled legs and stepping out of them, straightening up to reveal the soft folds of her cleft and the trimmed black patch above….

Akane looked up to find a naked Ranma standing before her, love and desire shining in her eyes, and had to smile through her own nervousness. Putting on a nonchalant air, she sauntered over to the smaller girl. “So, like what you see?” she asked saucily, stopping a few feet away and striking a jaunty pose.

“Very!” Ranma said in a husky voice, and reached for the black-haired girl before her.

“Ah, ah, not yet!” Akane teased, stepping back and turning to her bookbag, pulling out the key for her box of toys. A few moments later she had the blindfold in hand and was just turning around when she felt Ranma’s arms circle around her, pulling her back against the redhead’s substantial chest. Akane shivered at the feel of Ranma’s breath on her neck, then her eyes fell closed and she moaned softly, her knees going weak as Ranma lipped at her ear and her hands ran up Akane’s stomach to her breasts.

A few blissful moments later, Ranma’s hands left off their attention to her chest to pluck the blindfold out of her loose grip. “Let’s see, here …” Ranma murmured as she untangled the ties, and Akane’s view of the closet went black as the blindfold dropped down over her eyes and she felt Ranma fumbling with the cords behind her ears and around the back of her head before they went tight. “There! That isn’t too tight, is it?” Ranma asked.

Akane shook her head. “No, it’s fine.”

“Good. Now, where were we?” Ranma’s hands gently turned Akane around then went to each side of her head to tilt it forward, and she felt lips gently brush across her own, then settle into place more firmly. As the kiss deepened, hands ran down along her arms, up her sides, around her back pulling her against her lover’s cushioned chest and her own hands were roaming down, cupping and squeezing Ranma’s firm buttocks, one hand slipping between the two girls to cup the redhead’s moistening mound and Ranma moaned into her mouth as their tongues slid and circled around and toyed with each other….

And Akane yelped as Ranma swept her off her feet and carried her to their bed, placing her down with her head on the pillows at the foot. A moment later she felt the other girl settle across her and resumed the kiss, Akane’s arms going under and around Ranma’s shoulders to pull the two together. Their legs entwined, and both girls gasped as their clits crossed and rubbed.

For a few minutes the two girls moved against each other, rubbing, feeling the juices beginning to flow from each moistening the skin of the other. Then Ranma broke the kiss and Akane felt her pull away. “No....” she moaned, only to fall silent at the feel of a finger pressed gently to her lips.

“Trust me,” Ranma whispered in her ear, then Akane gasped at the feel of Ranma’s lips on the side of her throat, down along her collarbone, trailing down along her upper breast. She again moaned as one of her nipples was gently kissed, then suckled.

“Oh, Ranma, that feels so good, don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t stop....” and she went on repeating her new mantra as Ranma switched her mouth from one breast to the other for several minutes until she again resumed her journey down along her lover’s body, along her stomach, a quick dip into her belly button, down again and Akane twitched with a sucked in breath as Ranma’s tongue flicked across her clit, then ran down along her outer folds, up along between them, then back to dive in as deep as she could get, and Akane lightly shrieked and her hips bucked with her first orgasm. Ranma paused for a moment until her breathing settled slightly, then dove in again, thrusting her tongue in and out, lapping at the juices leaking out, her arms wrapped around Akane’s thighs to hold her down while a thumb repeatedly flicked at Akane’s button until Akane again exploded, writhing and jerking, with nothing light about _this_ shriek.

As Akane lay there shuddering, head thrown back, mouth wide and sucking in air a deep gasps, hands clutching at her breasts, Ranma sat up, reached over to the table and grabbed the thermos, pouring the still-warm water slowly over her head until the familiar barely noticeable tingle of the change swept over her and he quietly put the top back on the thermos and placed it back on the table. As Akane’s shuddering eased off, he gently moved her knees up and out, spreading her wide open, then shifted up and reached down to guide his cock into her sopping sheath.

Even through her pleasure-haze, Akane gasped as a cold shock ran through her at the feel of Ranma’s cockhead teasing open her folds, gently pushing into her sopping tunnel. _He’s doing it — no, she! ‘She’, remember …_ And even as she felt herself stretching to accommodate the cock slowly pushing in, filling her more and more until their hips met, she cast her mind back the previous night, how she’d gazed up at the sweat-slicked face of the redhead she’d dreamed about for long months as the strap-on Ranma wore filled her, seeming to reach to her breastbone.

As Ranma slowly pulled back, then thrust forward, repeated it, again, building up speed a little each time, Akane squeezed at her breasts and lost herself in her memory of the way the redheaded girl had almost leaned on Akane’s spread-open knees, had grabbed her ankles and held her legs wide and open, had closed her eyes, gasping as her now sharply-pointed bountiful breasts had bounced and shook with each thrust....

Ranma stifled a groan as he found a rhythm, steadily thrusting, Akane’s hips jerking up to match him — _Careful, Ranma, Akane’s trying ta remember, don’t make it harder than it is._ But this was so different from the strap-on, to actually feel the tight wet warmth surrounding him, sucking at him, seeming to pulse, feeling like his balls were boiling, tightening — then he did groan as Akane _screamed_ , head thrown back and back arched, her vagina clamping down on his rod like a vise, and he stiffened as he seemed to swell and spurt after spurt of his seed splashed into Akane’s depths until there wasn’t room and it oozed out with his thrusts and he slowed and finally, after a last few gentle pumps, pulled back and out.

/\

Down in the outer bath underneath Akane’s and Ranma’s room, Kasumi glanced up from where she leaned against the wall with one hand holding her dress’s skirt up around her waist and her other hand slipped inside her panties rubbing eagerly at her clit as the regular thumping from the room above ended with her youngest sister’s loudest scream yet. _Oh, my, Akane is certainly … enthusiastic!_ The oldest Tendo thought, then gasped as she shuddered with her own orgasm. _I’m glad I got home from shopping a little early._ Slowly, she pulled her hand free and licked it clean of her juices, then with a sigh pulled off her panties and tossed them in the dirty clothes hamper and grabbed a wash cloth before stepping into the inner bath.

As she wiped herself clean she smiled wistfully. _Good for you, little brother — sister. You just go right on making Akane happy, and let her do the same for you. I’m happy for you both. I just wish … I don’t really want to marry anyone, I’m happy where I am — I wouldn’t be doing anything different than I already am if I got married, I like most of the people I’m living with, the chaos around Ranma keeps things lively. But sometimes, a little_ personal _action would be nice. Why did Ono have to be such a gentleman on our dates?_

Frowning slightly as she contemplated her pantiesless state, Kasumi shrugged and returned to the cleaning. _It’s not like you really need them right now and your dress is long enough_ — with a sigh — _they’re_ all _long enough._ And as she finished the cleaning, she whistled quietly, dreaming of a desert island and a tall, shirtless, brawny young man (with more than a passing resemblance to Ranma) slowly removing her blouse….

/\

For a minute Ranma simply sat and smiled at the gasping black-haired girl spread out before him as she went limp, a slight runlet of white juice oozing out of her cleft and dripping onto the bed between her spread-open thighs. Finally, he swung Akane’s left leg across him to join its sister and turned to sit facing the room, his feet on the floor as he reached for the thermos and the washcloth and bowl she’d brought up. Pouring the last of the still-warm water into the bowl, Ranma carefully wiped himself clean of any hint of semen, then placed the bowl back on the table and poured the glass of cool water over his head.

The now female Ranma lay down next to her limp, sweat-slicked lover and reached up to gently slide the blindfold up onto Akane’s forehead. Akane blinked at the sudden light, then as her eyes adjusted smiled up at Ranma.  Ranma chuckled.  “Well, from all the noise you were making I’d say that wasn’t so bad, now, was it?”

Akane gave her a happy smile.  “No … it wasn’t. A bit of a shock when you entered me, but your prep work and the memory of last night got me through it.” Then, sobering, she added, “Ranma, while I can’t see me doing this very often, if you want … occasionally …”

But Ranma shook her head. “No, Akane — I promised. Besides, you’d be doin’ it ta make me happy, not because ya want it.”

“But you …” Akane started, but broke off when Ranma leaned over to kiss her.

“But I was already wonderin’ what it’d be like ta do it as a girl before ya asked — practiced a little. I’ve had fun and I’ll have more. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re sure?” Akane asked, then smiled with relief when the redhead nodded. “Good. I’m not sure I could keep it up, but I’m asking so much of you …” She broke off for another kiss, then added when they finally came up for air, “But if I don’t get pregnant this time, and if everything works out with this ceremony, when the time comes in a few years we’re making a baby like this, not in a cold, sterile clinic.”

“Now _that_ I’ll agree with,” Ranma said, and the two cuddled up against each other and drifted off to sleep.


	11. Bad News

Ranma slowly came awake, grimacing slightly at the morning light shining through the window in spite of the curtains. She glanced up at the clock and smiled at the midmorning hour it showed. _I guess we’re finally catching up on our sleep. Had ta happen sometime, it’s been a week since the school year ended._

For a time the redhead simply lay there, luxuriating in the feel of her lover’s arm draped across her, hand resting lightly on her breast, Akane’s breath warm on her neck. Finally, she sighed and reluctantly shifted the extra arm helping hold her in bed and slipped out from under the blanket.

“Oh, you’re awake!” Akane exclaimed as she sat up on the bed and stretched, Ranma’s eyes lighting up at the black-haired girl’s breasts on display.

“Uh, yeah, how long have you been awake?” Ranma asked, and Akane shrugged.

“Just half an hour or so — I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“Right. I think we need ta rearrange the room so we can get out on both sides, taking turns sleeping on the inside isn’t cutting it,” Ranma muttered, then smiled. “Well, we missed our morning run and breakfast, but we don’t have any school club activities, so why don’t we get in some katas, a light spar, then see if Kasumi has anything ta tide us over ‘til lunch?”

“Sure,” Akane said, hopping out of bed. “But first …” She reached out and pulled the busty redhead into a deep kiss, pressing her bare pert mounds against Ranma’s more generous but equally bare set. When the two finally came up for air, she whispered, “Love you, Baka.”

“Love you, too, Tomboy,” Ranma whispered back. “Uh … we _could_ skip all that and just go back to bed.”

Nuh-uh!” Akane said with an eager grin as she stepped to their closet and pulled out a gi and tossed it to Ranma, then pulled out another for herself. “As fun as it’d be, you promised to start training me after a few weeks, even if we have to keep it light in case I’m pregnant. It’s been a few weeks, so come on!”

“Well, okay …” Ranma said with feigned reluctance, then smiled at Akane’s eagerness and started pulling on her own gi. “And after we eat, we’ll look through those scrolls we found in yer dad’s room, see where ta start trainin’ ya again.”

“Right!” Akane finished pulling on her gi, threw open the door (ignoring the fact that Ranma didn’t have her top on yet), and almost ran down the hall toward the stairs, the sound of Ranma’s laughter following her as Ranma followed her out of the bedroom while pulling on her top.

/\

Sitting at her desk, Nabiki glanced at her door as she heard Ranma and Akane pass her bedroom on their way to the stairs, shaking her head with a slight smile. _Well, at least they didn’t wake me up this morning; it’s been getting seriously frustrating and I don’t have a safe outlet at the moment — fingers and toys are losing their appeal. And they went to sleep at a decent hour last night, too. If I’d realized how useful martial arts training could be for other things, I wouldn’t have given it up!_

As the sounds of the younger teens charging down the stairs faded, Nabiki’s smile vanished as her eyes returned to the list of colleges and universities lying on her desk, and her mind returned to the problem it had been gnawing at — her future. _So, what_ do _you do, kiddo? Truth is, you have enough money salted away that you don’t really need to go to college — considering how modestly you live, and that Dad isn’t going to kick you out of the house any time soon, you could live off the interest and investment income even without all the games you’ve been playing with the school. Of course, you’d be bored out of your mind…._

Rising from her seat, she walked over to her bed, opened the curtains, then lay down and stared up at the sky through her window. _What I’d really like to do is go right on doing what I’m doing now — well, not really, that’s been getting a little old, lately. I suppose if I picked a large enough university and set out to build up a new network, that would be both fun and profitable. But it would only last four years — six, if I go for a Master’s — and then I’ll be right back to where I am now. Though with a lot more money, not an inconsiderable achievement,_ she added with a smirk.

Just then, Nabiki’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her older sister coming up the stairs and down the hall. A moment later Kasumi knocked on her door. “Nabiki, Elder Cologne’s on the phone and wants to speak to you.”

Nabiki bolted upright on her bed. _At last!_ she thought, then paused a moment to settle herself, and forced at least the appearance of calm. Getting up, she walked over and opened her door to show an obviously worried Kasumi with her hand upraised for another knock. “Thanks, big sis,” the middle Tendo said nonchalantly, and motioned for Kasumi to lead the way.

As the older Tendo walked back toward the stairs, she asked, “There isn’t anything … wrong, is there? Elder Cologne calls so rarely, and I don’t think she’s ever asked for you before.”

“Nothing to worry about, Kasumi, just some arrangements for the ceremony that’ll get Shampoo off Ranma’s and Akane’s backs,” Nabiki replied, and Kasumi relaxed.

“Oh, good! I know Ranma has been anxious to get this over with, and Akane will be happy to no longer have to worry about Shampoo!” the motherly Tendo enthused. Then they reached the first floor, and she headed toward the kitchen as Nabiki turned toward the phone.

/oOo\

Nabiki walked into Ucchan’s and glanced around — practically empty, Ku Lon sitting at a table away from the rest of the customers, good. Walking over to Ku Lon, the middle Tendo quickly took a seat. After the traditional polite greetings and inquiries, she asked, “So, Cologne, what was touchy enough that you couldn’t tell me over the telephone?”

The ancient Amazon silently poured her a cup of tea, then said, “The party from the village arrived this morning. However, they didn’t bring any males with them.”

Nabiki froze for a moment, tea cup halfway to her lips, then carefully took a sip and placed the cup back on its saucer. “I thought you said that having a few men standing by was an integral part of Ranma’s ceremony.”

“It is,” Ku Lon agreed. “However, the Council in its infinite wisdom decided that the situation called for a modification—that they could not risk exposing any of the village’s men to the outside world.”

“And they didn’t see fit to tell you this before the party arrived?” Nabiki asked quizzically, and Ku Lon chuckled.

“You see clearly, child. Yes, my rivals on the Council are seeking to take advantage of one last opportunity to use this situation to undermine my position further before Xian Pu and I return to the village. The elders chosen to act as witnesses are proof enough that my influence is now shaky at best, and they’re rubbing my face in it.”

“And playing with the lives of _my_ people to do it. I’ll have to … thank them properly if I get the chance,” Nabiki said quietly.

“Somehow, I don’t think that aspect of the situation occurred to them. But then, they don’t really know you,” Ku Lon said dryly. “However, their shortsightedness means that we are going to be short the hopefully unneeded men tonight, unless you can come up with a couple.”

Nabiki thought for a moment, then slowly shook her head. “No, I can’t,” she said reluctantly. “If I’d had some forewarning I could probably have come up with something, but just in a few hours — what am I supposed tell the guys, ‘we want you to stand by in case Ranma needs a good fucking’? Oh yes, and ‘I hope you’re a quick shooter, your life may depend on it’.”

Ku Lon laughed softly. “Yes, it does seem to be a tough sell, doesn’t it? Even if we wanted to make things that public. I suppose the best we can do is to be ready to tell Ranma to take a walk if she does turn out to be the Champion reborn. Well, at least now you know. I’d better get back to the café and my ‘guests’.” Hopping out of her chair, Ku Lon politely made her farewells and pogoed out of the restaurant.

Nabiki watched her go thoughtfully, then sat and sipped her cooling tea as she stared at the wall. Then, sitting up, she looked around for Ucchan’s crossdressing ‘waitress’ and waved him over when she saw him.

“Yes, Tendo-san, how may I serve you?” the meek kunoichi asked, bowing, and Nabiki grinned.

“So, how much of that did you overhear, all of it?” she asked.

“Yes,” Konatsu admitted hesitantly. “Anything involving both you and Elder Cologne may impact Ukyo-sama. You aren’t considering using my services if Ranma needs them?”

“Oh, no,” Nabiki quickly denied. “I’ve had plenty of second-hand experience with the sexual endurance of martial artists these past few weeks, thank you. Ranma would probably kill you by mistake. However, there _is_ something you can do for me and Ranma....”


	12. The angel in your arms this morning ...

Xian Pu gazed through the front windows of the Cat Café at the gathering dusk for a long moment, then resumed her pacing. Sitting at a nearby table, Mu Tse sighed. {They’ll be here when they get here}, he said in their native language, and Xian Pu whirled with a growl.

{What do you care? You’d _like_ it if I was banished, you think then you’d have me all to yourself! Well, you are …} She broke off her rant at the sound of a knock on the front door, and hurried over to throw it open.

Ranma and Akane stepped through, followed by Nabiki and Kasumi. “Hey, Shampoo, good ta see ya. It’s been awhile.”

Xian Pu restrained her urge to glomp the redheaded girl and settled for a nod. “True, Great-grandmother keep Shampoo at restaurant after Mercenary Girl tell about visit to dojo.”

Akane’s eyebrows rose at that. Turning to her sister, she said, “You knew before we told you and Kasumi?”

Waving off her younger sister’s suspicion, Nabiki said airily, “My room’s right next to yours, and you guys weren’t as quiet as you could have been.”

“Right …” Ranma said, rolling her eyes. Finally, she shrugged and turned back to Xian Pu. “So, where’s the ol’ ghoul?” she asked, and Xian Pu waved them toward the door to the back rooms of the café.

“Come this way,” she said, and Nabiki frowned slightly at the worry and anger Xian Pu was unable to completely hide.

/\

Ku Lon looked up from her place between two other Amazon women as shriveled and whitened by the years as she was as the six teenagers walked into the small kitchen in the café’s private quarters. “Ah, good, you’re here,” she said, standing on her seat and bowing to her visitors, sending a questioning look at Kasumi. From Kasumi, her gaze swept across the other teens, pausing on Akane and widening slightly. _Pregnant?! How — ?_ Shaking herself, she continued, “Allow me to present the elders who have come to witness the ceremonies.”

Bowing to the elder on her right, Ku Lon said, “This is the honored elder Pa Fum.” Then turning to her left, she said, “And this is the honored elder Sah Lon.” The two elders nodded slightly, faces expressionless.

Nabiki heard a strangled growl, and looked to her left to see Xian Pu fighting to suppress a snarl. Leaning over to the purple-haired girl, she whispered, “Let me guess, they’re being deliberately rude.”

Xian Pu nodded slightly. “Yes, _very_ rude.”

Smirking, Nabiki whispered, “Good, then they ought to appreciate the little surprise I set up for them.”

Xian Pu looked at Nabiki out of the corner of her eye, then smiled tightly. “Shampoo look forward to that.”

Ku Lon sent the two a quelling look as she turned to the two elders to introduce the teens. “You know the Godslayer and Akane from their time in the village, of course …”

/\

Ranma fought to suppress a yawn as she stood in the middle of the café’s cleared out dining room before a line of the three elders, naked as the day she was born, listening to one of the new ones whose name she’d already forgotten go on and on about the greatness and faithfulness of the Champion to a people not her own, her fidelity to her own sisters even to the extent of deliberately drowning herself to give them even the slightest chance at freedom.... _The same story the ol’ ghoul told us, only more_ _details_ _than I ever wanted ta know._

Sighing slightly, fighting an urge to scratch at the bandage on her hand where’d they’d drawn blood for the Oath of Battle Sisters, the redhead glanced to her left, where Kasumi and Akane stood along the wall, Akane worried and still a little angry that she wasn’t standing in Nabiki’s place behind Ranma and slightly to the left, and trying to hide both emotions; Kasumi seemingly her usual serene self but giving off little signs of tension only recognizable to those that knew her well as she clutched at Ranma’s clothing.

Giving the two Tendos a faint reassuring smile, the redhead glanced over to her right where two Amazon warriors no one had bothered to introduce reclined against the wall alongside Mu Tse, and Ranma’s lips tightened at the two warriors’ obvious disdain for what they were watching. _Nabiki was right,_ she thought, her gaze hardening. _They’re usin’ us fer their own little games._

Behind Ranma, Nabiki smirked slightly as she followed Ranma’s gaze and saw the two nameless ones tense up. _Ranma’s got their attention, good. Maybe they’re beginning to realize we aren’t as stupid as they thought._ Focusing her attention back on the blathering idiot masquerading as an Elder, she noted that the storyteller was reaching the end and about to ask the all-important question. Both Nabiki and Xian Pu, standing beside her, gently jabbed Ranma in the ribs, making the redheaded girl jerk slightly. “Eyes front, you’re on! Remember your line,” Nabiki hissed, and nodded slightly as Ranma focused back on Elder Sah Lon in the middle of the three.

“Ranma, this is the example of she who has gone before you,” the elder intoned. “If you prove to be her Chosen One, will you take her example to heart and follow in her footsteps, as a refuge for her sisters and an ally of the tribe?”

“Yes,” Ranma responded with the line Nabiki had forced her to memorize when she’d managed to speak with her privately that afternoon. “I will protect the weak, as I always have, and I will accept the offer of alliance with the Joketsuzoku in the spirit in which it is offered.” With that, she smirked as Elder Sah Lon started slightly.

Beside her compatriot, Elder Pa Fum glanced over at Nabiki, her lips thinning at the middle Tendo’s hard-eyed stare, then her eyes widened slightly when Nabiki’s gaze shifted momentarily to Ku Lon and back with a cynical smile. _Good,_ Nabiki thought, _message received — the alliance is with those that offered it in good faith, and them only. You get to go back to your pissant village with Ku Lon free to return with the Godslayer for an ally, her heir freed of the burden of the Kisses and now the battle sister of that same Godslayer, and you with_ nothing _to show for it. Have fun explaining this to the rest of your little clique._

Meanwhile, Elder Sah Lon paused and glanced over at her partner, then started when Ku Lon elbowed her in the ribs.

“Not the exact phrase of the ritual, but certainly an acceptable deviation,” Ku Lon said, carefully hiding her amusement at the byplay she’d just witnessed. “Any true alliance _is_ two-sided, after all — and I’m sure the Council will see it that way. Continue.”

Sah Lon glanced again at Pa Fum, then on receiving a frustrated nod sighed and said, “Very well. May the waters of the Faithful One seal our alliance and reveal if the Champion once again walks the earth!”

With that, Xian Pu and Nabiki stepped back and to the side, joining the other two unnamed Amazon warriors standing by a small barrel of water. The two warriors grasped the handles at the top of the barrel and lifted it, advancing directly behind the petite redhead. Nabiki and Xian Pu grabbed the handles at the bottom of the barrel, the latter careful because of her own bandaged hand from the Oath of Battle Sisters, and tilted the barrel until the water inside cascaded over Ranma’s head.

For a long moment, nothing happened. The two elders and the Tendo sisters against the wall relaxed, but Xian Pu and Nabiki had their eyes on Ku Lon and the ancient Elder continued to stare intensely at Ranma. Then suddenly, the soaked, naked redhead clutched at her stomach, doubling over and falling to her knees in the middle of the puddle with a groan. Akane jolted forward, only to be intercepted by Nabiki and Xian Pu. “Wait for it,” her sister whispered to the frantic girl, nodding to Ku Lon. “It isn’t over yet, she’ll know when, and it could be dangerous for Ranma if you interfere.” The matriarch had continued to stare at Ranma, not moving even as her fellow elders had stepped back in shock. The dining room was completely silent except for Ranma’s strangled groans.

Abruptly, Ranma shot up straight, still on her knees, face pointed at the ceiling, and _shrieked_ as streams of almost blinding light sprang from every orifice, from her ears, her eyes, from two tiny spots on her forehead. Through watering eyes, the Tendo sisters, Xian Pu, and the two warriors that had helped with the barrel watched in amazement as a line of red fur ran down Ranma’s neck, spread across her shoulders, then in a matter of seconds in a ‘V’ down her back to her tailbone. As soon as the spreading fur reached her tailbone, a red-furred, spade-tipped tail erupted, growing rapidly to four feet in length, and Ranma’s back arched, her ongoing scream intensifying, as bat-like wings also covered in short red fur erupted from her shoulder blades and rapidly spread out to her full length on each side.

Just as suddenly as it had started, the light show ended and Ranma collapsed onto her side, gasping in deep, shuddering breaths. Akane broke free of her sister and Xian Pu and dashed to her lover, dropping to her knees and pulling Ranma up into her lap. “Ranma, are you okay, say something, please!” Akane babbled, half-sobbing, and Ranma wearily lifted her head and looked up at the blacked-haired girl clutching at her, two tiny bone-white horns clearly visible on her forehead at the spots from which the beams of light had emanated.

“A-Akane?” Ranma gasped out, and suddenly her eyes sharpened and she slowly sat up. Akane gasped and fell silent at the impact of Ranma’s gaze, and then Nabiki was there pulling Ranma away from her and Xian Pu and Mu Tse each grabbed an arm of the youngest Tendo.

Nabiki ignored Akane’s shouted demands to be let go and grabbed the pants and shirt a wide-eyed Kasumi handed her as she hauled Ranma to her feet. “Ranma, look at me,” she ordered as Ranma began to turn toward Akane. “Remember what I told you this afternoon, look at me!” Reluctantly, Ranma turned toward Nabiki, and the middle Tendo gasped slightly at the impact of the newly-birthed succubus’s gaze. Forcing herself to ignore the sudden strong attraction she felt, she stared into Ranma’s eyes. “Good, now focus, remember what you look like, pull up that image, cover yourself with it!”

“Right!” Ranma gasped, and closed her eyes. For a long moment nothing happened, and then Ranma’s form seemed to fluctuate, blurring like an out-of-focus camera pointed at a funhouse mirror, her height and breadth wavering, her hair color shifting between black and red even as the wings and tail shrank into Ranma’s torso and vanished. Abruptly the blurring ceased and the redheaded girl stood before the two older Tendos.

Nabiki sagged with relief and handed a dazed Ranma the clothing. Moving slowly, almost as if she were surrounded by water, Ranma pulled on the pants and shirt, and then Nabiki frantically pulled her toward the café’s front door. Opening the door, she shoved the still-dazed redhead out onto the sidewalk. “Now, take a walk, a long one,” she said. “Remember, what I told you, you aren’t safe around women right now, avoid them like the plague. Don’t come back here or to the dojo until you’re safe.”

“But … but how will I know?” Ranma asked, and Nabiki sighed.

You’ll know,” she said softly, “now go.”

Ranma nodded and turned away down the sidewalk, her weaving walk slowly straightening out. Nabiki watched her for a few moments, then glanced up at the roof of the building across the street and smiled in satisfaction as she saw a dark figure briefly silhouetted against the night sky as it leaped across the alley to the next building over.

Turning back into the dining room, Nabiki sighed at the sight of a frantically struggling Akane lying on the floor, actually bound up in one of Mu Tse’s chains and held down by the two Amazon teenagers. Walking over to her younger sister, she crouched down next to her. “You can stop, Ranma’s gone and won’t be back for awhile. Good thing, too — if Ranma’s going to find herself next to a corpse, I’d rather it wasn’t yours.”

Akane stopped struggling and stared at her sister. “Corpse?” she asked hesitantly, and Nabiki stood up, looking around at Ku Lon.

“You know how this works a lot better than I do, why don’t you explain it?” Then Nabiki’s eyes sharpened as she noticed some absences. “Hey, where’d the other Amazons go?”

Ku Lon chuckled dryly. “They had a sudden need to return to the village as soon as possible. They left to pack so that they could start their journey tonight.”

Nabiki smirked. “And of course you’ll beat them back, even when they have a head start.”

“Of course. It is only right that the one who best knows the situation and its causes reports first to the Council,” Ku Lon replied blandly, then turned to Xian Pu. “Great-granddaughter, you will need to remain here and give your battle sister whatever support she will accept as she adjusts to her new form and needs.”

Xian Pu nodded vigorously. “Of course, Great-grandmother! Honored Elder leave scrolls about Champion?”

Ku Lon nodded, then turned to Mu Tse. “And you will be returning with me to the village, to act as a corroborating witness.” Mu Tse stiffened, opening his mouth as his face twisted with anger, only to freeze when he suddenly found the matriarch’s staff pressed against his chest. “You _will_ do this, Part-timer,” Ku Lon growled. “If you comport yourself properly you may be allowed to return, but interference in the relationship between battle sisters, especially _champion_ battle sisters, will see you banished from the tribe _at best_.”

“What needs?! What’s going on?! Let me _out_!” a red-faced Akane shouted, resuming her struggles, only to freeze as the matriarch turned to her, her expression gentle and eyes sad.


	13. ... the devil in someone else's arms tonight.

Ranma looked around as she walked, her mind slowly clearing of the haze she had been drifting in since her transformation. Something was odd. Dusk had been falling when she and the Tendo sisters had arrived at the Cat Café, and by now it was dark. But even though she knew it was dark … she could _see_ it was dark … it was as if the street she was walking along was bright as day — every person standing in the faint shadows of the alleyways she passed could be clearly seen, every color as vibrant as under a noonday sun.

And the colors weren’t right, either — no, they were right, there were just more than there should have been, every person she saw seeming to be surrounded by faint, swirling glows, mixtures of translucent white and black and every shade of gray between the two imaginable….

Ranma shook her head, then leaned against the brick wall she’d been walking along and closed her eyes, suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of dizziness from the sensory overload, the complete _strangeness_ of what she was seeing. When the world no longer felt like it was rotating around her, she opened her eyes and concentrated on a single man walking along the sidewalk across the street from her, desperately willing the strangeness to fade, to disappear … then sighed faintly in relief as the man’s odd nimbus faded out of sight.

“Hey, kid.”

Ranma jerked, startled, and looked over to her left to find a man leaning on a car a few yards away, arms crossed on the roof, ordinary-looking: slightly tanned skin, black hair, brown eyes, somewhat short (meaning only a few inches taller than Ranma). Still, there was something about him strangely … attractive. _Great, one more weird thing ta figure out,_ Ranma thought, giving her head a little shake. “Yeah, whadda ya want?” she asked brusquely.

“Actually, it’s about what _you_ might want,” the stranger said with a slight smile. “It’s pretty late, and you don’t seem to really be headed anywhere. Need some dinner, a place to spend the night? It’s late enough the predators are coming out.”

“Yeah, like that’s something I’m gonna worry about,” Ranma scoffed, and the man chuckled.

“I know, even when you’re meandering, you move like a fighter. Still, some predators travel in packs. And even if you can take on an entire gang, that could get the police involved — not something I think you want.” Without thinking, Ranma shook her head, and he nodded. “What I thought. So, a place to spend the night, get off the streets?”

For a long moment Ranma simply stared. _He has a point about the predators, and I don’t even know what I can do right now — I feel kinda weak, I might even lose, and then …_ She fought off images of what “and then” might be like, firmly ignoring the slight thrill that ran through her body. _Yeah, a good night’s sleep, then tomorrow I can start testin’ myself, figure out what Nabiki meant about …_ “Uh, ya aren’t married, are ya?” she asked hesitantly.

The stranger’s slight smile broadened. “No, I live alone, there’ll just be the two of us.”

_Why not? It’s not like he could do anything ta me. And he has a cute smile...._ “Sure, why not?” Ranma said impulsively.

“Good, hop in,” the man said, nodding to the passenger seat of the car he was leaning against. “My name’s Kazuki Moto, by the way, what’s yours?”

“Sao — Ranma,” the redhead replied as she opened the passenger door and climbed in.

“Well, ‘Sao’ Ranma, it’s good to meet you. Now, let’s get you home and fed,” Kazuki said as he started up the car and pulled out into the street.

On the roof of the building Ranma had been leaning against, Konatsu cursed mildly as he broke into a run and leaped across to the next building over in pursuit.

/oOo\

Still in the dining room of the Cat Café, Nabiki and Xian Pu sat, backs to the front door, poring over one scroll as Ku Lon did the same with another across the table from the two, almost invisible behind the two stacks of scrolls piled up on the table between them. “One of the first things we’re going to do is get these translated into proper Japanese,” Nabiki grumbled as Xian Pu did her best to translate what she was reading while Nabiki acted as her scribe. A few yards away, Akane sat curled in Kasumi’s lap with her hands resting on her stomach, head resting on her sister’s shoulder and tears slowly trickling from her closed eyes and down her cheeks as her older sister gently rocked her and hummed a lullaby. Engrossed in their private studies and hells, no one noticed the sound of a motorcycle pulling up outside.

Nabiki sat back with a growl at Xian Pu’s latest basic translation. “Useless! Nothing here on how many people Ranma needs to stay alive without endangering them.” Glaring at Ku Lon across the table, she snarled, “And you, you old bat, why didn’t you bother to research this before, given how many times you said you’ve read these?”

Shrugging without looking up from her own scroll, Ku Lon replied distractedly, “I expected the Champion to show up at the village, child, not in a far-off city of barbarians. With an entire village of men and women willing, even eager to offer themselves, the least number needed wasn’t an issue. Keep searching — considering Alanya’s history and hopes there should be something in here somewhere that will at least hint at the number we need.”

“Four,” came the totally unexpected response from behind Nabiki, and she and Xian Pu whirled to find a tall, tanned, platinum blonde woman dressed in a tight blue dress split down the front to her navel and up the side almost to her waist, three blue triangles seemingly tattooed on her forehead and each cheek, standing in the doorway to the café. Barely noticed beside her stood a dark-haired young man in a leather jacket with a motorcycle helmet tucked under his arm.

“What did you say?” Nabiki asked brusquely.

“I said, ‘four’ — at a minimum, Ranma will need four girls of average health to meet her daily needs, though with girls like Xian Pu and Akane” — nodding to the middle Tendo now sitting upright in her sister’s lap and staring at the stranger — “you could probably get by safely with three, so long as the third only serves every four days, but four would be safer even with healthier girls. Of course, that just meets Ranma’s daily needs. It doesn’t take into account what she’ll need to feed her more powerful abilities.”

Akane slipped from Kasumi’s lap and stood, her tear-streaked face reddening in anger, fists clenched. “And what business is it of yours —”

“Greetings, Great One,” Ku Lon said loudly, overriding the youngest Tendo, as she bowed deeply from where she now stood on the table between the two piles of scrolls. “How may your humble servants aid you?”

“Actually, it’s more like how I can help _you_ ,” the tall blonde said as she sauntered over toward them with a smile. “I’m Urd, the Goddess of the Past, and of Looove.”

“ ‘Love’?” echoed Xian Pu. “Shampoo thought Eros God of Love.”

“Eros? Interesting,” Nabiki mused, glancing at Xian Pu speculatively, then slyly at their visitor. “I thought that was handled by Aphrodite, or Bastet, or Ishtar, or Freya, or Aizen Myoo, or Dosojin, or …”

“Yes, yes, them too, more or less,” Urd said, smile thinning. “But that’s not why I’m here, or at least not directly.” She turned to face Akane, the youngest Tendo gaping as she looked back and forth between Ku Lon and Urd.

“Akane,” Urd said, smile vanishing. “Several weeks ago, you gave Ranma three choices, and all night to think about it. I’m afraid that for you, it’s narrowed to two, and right now. You can choose to keep Ranma in your life in spite of the fact that you will have to share her body with any number of others, help her adjust to her new needs, let her help raise the child the two of you have created,” — Akane’s fists uncurled as her hands rose to cover her stomach — “or you can reject what she has become, and I and my sisters will see to her wellbeing — and you will likely never see her again.”

Akane stared at the goddess, blood draining from her face, as Kasumi rose and gently pulled her into a hug from behind.

As Akane simply stared, Nabiki jerked slightly as she felt her cell phone vibrate. Pulling it out and checking the number, she smiled and hit the ‘accept’ button before lifting the phone to her ear. “Hey, Konatsu, what have you got for me?” ... “Good, what’s the address, or at least the name?” she asked, grabbing the pen she’d been using for notes and jotting down Konatsu’s reply. “Great. Don’t worry about not knowing which exact apartment, just keep an eye on the entrance and follow Ranma when she leaves,” she instructed brusquely, then closed and pocketed the phone. Looking around, she found every eye in the place except Akane’s on her and nodded. “Ranma got picked up by some guy in a car. Konatsu managed to follow them to an apartment building.”

As Ku Lon nodded approvingly to Nabiki, Urd turned back to the youngest Tendo, face like stone. When Akane continued to stare at her in stunned speechlessness, the goddess said, “Refusing to make a choice is the same as rejecting the girl you have made, and you’ve just run out of time. So which will it be? Choose!”

/oOo\

Ranma glanced around the one-room apartment from where she sat on the cushioned floor before the low table as she finished the ramen Kazuki had picked up on their trip there. She frowned slightly as she gulped down the last few mouthfuls — the ramen had been good, if not up to Cat Café standards, and she’d had no problem eating it, but it hadn’t seemed to help her at all. The singing emptiness inside her was still there, as strong as ever — stronger, in fact. She glanced over at her host as she put the bowl down. _You know, he really is cute,_ she thought happily, then froze. _Oh, kami help me,_ he’s _cute? What’s wrong with me?!_

The redhead rose to her feet, and bowed to her host. “Thank you, Mr. Moto, for the ramen and tha offer of a place ta sleep, but I think I’ll just walk the night away.” She turned toward the door and took several steps, only to freeze at the sound of Kazuki’s voice.

“Wait!” he called. Ranma started to turn around, but stopped at the sound of Kazuki rising and walking toward her. She found herself facing the wall, staring into a full-length mirror. In the mirror she could see him approaching her from behind, reaching up to put his hands on her shoulders. “What I said before still holds,” Kazuki said softly. “By now, the streets in this neighborhood belong to prostitutes, their clients, and thugs. It isn’t safe, not for you, not for them.” Gently running his hands down along her arms, he added, “Please stay. In the morning on my way to work I can drop you off at a place where you’ll be safe, and where you can earn enough to support yourself without anyone knowing about it that you don’t want to find you.”

_Oh, crap, prostitutes!_ Ranma thought despairingly, even as she shivered at the feel of his hands on her bare skin. _It sounds like they’ll be all over, and Nabiki said … yeah,_ ‘Nabiki _said’ — but she’s been different lately, friendlier, weird._ Her eyes met Kazuki’s in the mirror, and he seemed to stiffen slightly. He really _was_ cute, and more … something seemed to be pulling her toward him, something in the odd emptiness she felt seemed to yearn for him.... “Alright,” she whispered as she leaned back against him, eyes closing. “I’ll stay.”

“Thank you,” he whispered, his hands slipping around in front of her. Ranma sighed as they rose to gently cup her breasts, and he stiffened. “That’s right, no bra. You _did_ leave home in a hurry, didn’t you?” He was silent for a moment, hands unmoving, then asked, “Do you want me to stop?”

For a long moment Ranma was silent, forcing herself not to move, not to rub her breasts against the hands cupping them, as her body ached for more. _This is what you need, isn’t it? And the way ya felt so drawn ta Akane — no wonder Nabiki threw ya out. But she said ta come back when I’m safe...._ Opening her eyes, she again looked at Kazuki’s concerned face in the mirror. _Nabiki didn’t say anything about stayin’ away from guys._ “No,” she finally said breathlessly as her own hands rose to cup his. “No, I don’t want you to stop. Please …”

Kazuki smiled softly, and Ranma gasped as his hands again started moving, one reaching for the fastenings of her shirt while the other gently played with a breast and its rapidly hardening nipple. Her shirt fell open, and the hand on her breast switched to the other, slipping under the fabric to caress her naked flesh, while the other hand loosened her pants and slipped down inside. Ranma saw his eyes widen as his fingers slipped through her bush of pubic curls. “No panties, either?” he mused, and Ranma’s hips bucked, her head falling back against his shoulder, eyes closed, as fingers rubbed across her nub and down between her lower lips. “And you’re already practically dripping,” he said, smile broadening. “You’re a hot little number, aren’t you? I think you’re going to like where I’m taking you in the morning.”

With that he pulled his hands away and stepped back, holding Ranma upright with his hands on her shoulders. Ranma mewed a protest, eyes popping open, then relaxed as the hands slipped her shirt back and let it fall to the ends of her arms. As she quickly shook her sleeveless shirt free, dropping it to the floor, Kazuki knelt, undid the ties at her ankles, then grasped her pants at the waist and pulled them down her legs and helped her step out of them. Standing up Kazuki quickly stripped off his own clothing and pulled her back against his chest, and she groaned with pleasure as his hands returned to their former playgrounds.

As she wriggled against him, Kazuki stared appreciatively at the view in the full-length mirror, his eyes traveling the length of the petite, busty redhead’s body, lingering on her jiggling full breasts and thick red bush above her slightly dripping slit. Sliding his fingers away from her swollen lower lips, he ran them along the trickle of fluid down the inside of her thigh, then raised his hand to Ranma’s mouth. As she eagerly sucked on the offered fingers, thrilling at the taste of her own juices, Kazuki smiled. “I think we can skip a certain amount of foreplay this time.”

Gently, he levered her upright and pushed on her shoulders. “Lean forward, brace yourself on each side of the mirror.” Ranma did as commanded, and he levered her feet apart so that she stood with her legs spread, then stepped behind her with his own legs spread, and Ranma gasped as she felt his manhood slip up between her folds, coating its top with her juices. Kazuki ran his dick along her cleft several times, until Ranma began to shake with need.

“Please …” she whispered, and he nodded mock-solemnly.

“As my lady commands,” he intoned, and reached down to properly position himself, then slowly pushed. Ranma watched in the mirror as his dickhead parted her lips and sank in, as the rest of his stiff rod slowly slipped up into her, gasping in mounting pleasure as she felt her tunnel stretching to accommodate the welcome intruder. “Oh yes, you’re so tight and hot!” Kazuki exclaimed. “I don’t think I’ve ever known a girl this tight.”

“You think that’s tight? Try this!” Grinning she clenched the muscles in her vagina, and Kazuki groaned.

“Too tight!” he gasped, and Ranma chuckled and relaxed, then gasped herself as he started to slowly pump in and out.

“Oh, yes …” she moaned, “that’s it, give it to me, harder, harder!” Kazuki smiled and slowly picked up the pace, the room echoing to the moist sounds of wet flesh hitting wet flesh. Ranma found herself panting in time to the thrusts, her arms quivering. Suddenly her arms gave way, and she leaned her sweat-soaked forehead against the mirror, elbows now braced against the wall, getting a close-up view as her bountiful breasts shook with each wet slap.

Kazuki sighed as Ranma’s new position completely cut of his view of her front in the mirror, then shrugged and picked up the pace even more, pounding into the now squealing girl. He looked down at the view of his rod pistoning in and out, drops of sweat and Ranma’s juices peppering the cushioned floor beneath their feet. _Good thing the floor’s waterproof,_ he thought, as usual, then grinned. Leaning down and reaching under, he ran his thumb along her spread lips, feeling his wet cock sliding in and out, then up and around her nub. Then he placed his moistened thumb at the entrance to her back door while his other hand replaced the first one in rubbing Ranma’s engorged clit.

Ranma yelped at the feel of a digit rubbing across her nub, then gasped as something pressed against her asshole. _What is he doing?_ she blurrily thought, then breathily shrieked, back arching, as she felt Kazuki’s thumb pop up into her ass and begin pumping in time with the cock hammering her pussy at the same time fingers rubbed her clit and along her outer lips. She found herself pounding back against him, matching him thrust for thrust, runnels of sweat running down her face and coating her breasts.

Then Ranma pushed herself upright with a stifled scream as she felt the cock pistoning into her plunge as deep as it could and freeze in place, spurt after spurt of cum splashing deep inside her. With the cum came a flood of energy, and her world went white in orgasmic bliss like she’d never known in the last three weeks, so intense she didn’t even feel Kazuki’s thumb and cock pop out of her as he fell backward, or hear him hit the floor. She dropped to her knees, shaking, her sweat-slicked forehead leaving a wet streak down the mirror, cum running out of her tunnel and down her leg, dripping and pooling on the floor.

Finally, Ranma’s shaking eased and she lifted her head off of the mirror. She felt _great_! The yearning emptiness she’d been feeling wasn’t completely gone, but it was greatly reduced, now a mere presence in the background instead of a constant yearning tug, and the weakness she’d felt tugging at her as she walked had all but vanished in a burst of energy. _I didn’t realize how much pressure whatever-that-was was puttin’ on me. And that eruption at the end, wow! Nothin’ like that ever happened with Akane —_ Ranma froze. _Akane! How am I gonna explain this ta Akane?!_ She fell on her side and curled into a ball, thoughts racing in incoherent panic in all directions. After a while, Ranma forced her thoughts to slow down, settle, and a dull resignation set in. _This isn’t gonna be the only time, is it? Only the first._ _I’m not gonna be able ta explain this,_ she thought, _and I’m not gonna try. Better if she never sees me again, she doesn’t need me, not like this._

Slowly, the red-haired girl climbed to her feet and looked around, grimacing. _What a mess. And where’s —_ Again, her thoughts froze as she saw the man that had just given her the greatest fuck of her limited experience collapsed on the floor, eyes closed. Rushing over and dropping to her knees beside him, she reached out a shaking hand and sighed in relief at the feel of the pulse at his neck. _What_ happened _to him?_ she thought. _Nabiki said — no, she didn’t. She said I was dangerous around women, not that I was safe around men. If I was gonna go back, I’d hafta have a talk with that girl._

Ignoring the slow tears beginning to run down her cheeks, Ranma rose and walked over to the small bathroom and grabbed a quick shower, then found Kazuki’s cleaning equipment and hastily cleaned up the mess they’d made. Finally, she pulled her pants and shirt back on, both only slightly stained, and looked down at Kazuki. With a sigh, she pulled him out of the way, set up his futon, wiped him down, and tucked a blanket around him.

Turning, Ranma looked at herself again in the full-length mirror, wiped at the slow tears still leaving tracks down her cheeks, then walked over to the door to the apartment, turned off the lights, and left.


	14. Fields of Gold

Almost blinded by the tears still trickling down her face and uncaring of where she went, Ranma walked out of the apartment building’s doors, then stiffened slightly in surprise at a sweet, bell-like voice from her right.

“Ranma?”

The redhead whirled and dropped into her style’s deceptive ready-for-anything stance, then staggered back as she took in the three people waiting for her — the bizarre black, white and gray auras from earlier were back. The two large men weren’t a problem, obviously not fighters for all their bulk and the baseball bats they carried, and their auras the dim translucence of before, though with no real signs of the black Ranma had seen earlier, but the young woman standing between them was another matter entirely — _her_ aura was almost pure white with occasional traces of gray, and it somehow shone like the noonday sun without blinding Ranma.

For a long moment Ranma stared at the woman. She was slightly taller than the redhead, with brown hair, a sweet face, and three strange diamond tattoos on her forehead and cheeks. A sense of peace seemed to radiate from her, and Ranma felt the sea of pain she was wading through recede somewhat. Finally, she found her voice. “W-What are you?” she asked in a shaky voice.

The two men bristled, but the woman simply smiled. “I am Belldandy, Goddess of the Present, and I am here to help you,” she said in the same gentle voice Ranma had heard before.

Ranma turned her gaze from Belldandy’s brilliance to the man to her right and concentrated, again somehow forcing the strange nimbus to fade out of sight. Turning back to Belldandy, she gave a soft sigh of relief at finding the goddess’s aura also hidden. “Are ... are you here to kill me?” Ranma asked.

Belldandy frowned slightly in confusion. “Kill you? Why would I do that?”

“But ... but I’m a demon now, and you said ...”

Belldandy’s confused expression vanished and she smiled again. “Oh, we don’t do that anymore — at least, not often. The Doublet System keeps Asgard and Niflheim from going to war, and while the Earth Demons usually follow Hild’s lead not all of them are evil.”

Ranma dropped her eyes to stare at the sidewalk. The details didn’t make much sense — _Asgard? Niflheim? And what’s a Doublet System?_ — but the general outline was clear enough, and she had a sudden vision of the life ahead of her, wandering alone without family or friends, letting herself be picked up by strange men just to stay alive, dodging or fighting off the demon hunters she knew existed, maybe even some she had met and liked during the training trip. “Please ...” she whispered so softly the two men could barely hear her. “Please, I can’t live like this....”

Belldandy stepped forward and pulled the smaller redhead into a gentle hug, and Ranma broke down completely, clutching at her and sobbing into her shoulder. After a few minutes, Belldandy swept Ranma up in her arms and walked over to a nearby bench, sitting down with the redhead in her lap and the two men taking up places at each end of the bench, watching the other men along the street alertly.

Finally, Ranma’s wracking sobs dropped off to sniffles and hiccups. Belldandy produced a handkerchief from nowhere and gently wiped Ranma’s tear tracks away, then just as gently placed a hand under Ranma’s chin to lift her gaze, and Ranma stared into sympathetic eyes set in a stern face. “And would you abandon your duty to Akane so easily?” Belldandy asked, and Ranma stiffened.

“My duty to Akane?” Ranma repeated, and Belldandy nodded.

“Yes — you asked her to bear your child, as a requirement for becoming your wife. She has kept faith, now it is your turn to do the same.”

Ranma simply stared at the goddess for a long moment. “Akane’s pregnant.”

Belldandy nodded. “Yes, she is. And she may well want you by her side, the two of you raising your child. Don’t you think you owe it to her to at least ask what she wants?”

Then, she gently added, “And then there’s your duty to your fellow succubae. You swore to be a refuge and a support for your enslaved sisters, and you cannot pass that burden off onto another — Alanya’s spell on the pool ended with your transformation, and even if it hadn’t it is a special miracle that the magic lasted as long as it did. The spell was becoming worn, threadbare, and would have failed within years, a decade at most — that is why the transformation took as long as it did and hurt so much. There will be no renewing Alanya’s work, no other Champion to replace Alanya, now or in the future.”

Ranma sighed, snuggling slightly deeper into Belldandy’s lap, her head once again resting on the goddess’s shoulder as Belldandy gently rocked her. _Just like Kasumi, there are_ two _of them!_ she thought in contented amazement. Then her thoughts turned to what Belldandy had said and she finally nodded slightly, her hair brushing Belldandy’s cheek. “You’re right,” she reluctantly admitted. “Before Akane, nobody ever really gave me a choice ‘bout anything important; I can’t treat the Tomboy the same way. But I dunno what I can do about the other succubae — I don’t know where the Bitch Queen lives, how powerful she is, how many people she has around her, I don’t know nothin’. And ...” her voice lowered, turned grim. “And I’ve never tried ta hunt someone down intendin’ ta kill ‘em — some Champion I’m gonna be.”

Belldandy smiled as she softly stroked Ranma’s hair. “Don’t worry about that now. Get things settled with Akane, learn what you can do, see how things work out with the Joketsuzoku. You’re effectively immortal now, if someone doesn’t kill you — you have time.”

The two fell silent for a time, and finally Ranma sighed and straightened up to look Belldandy in the eye, Belldandy’s arms dropping to Ranma’s waist, keeping her steady in her lap. “Belldandy, one question,” Ranma said. “From what ya just told me, ya were watchin’ the whole time — from before I got splashed, to when Moto-san picked me up, ta when I almost killed him. If you’re a goddess, why did ya allow it to happen? Why didn’t ya stop me?”

Belldandy’s smile turned sad, though her gaze remained steady. “You didn’t need our help to learn the true consequences of this night’s ceremony — you could simply have asked Ku Lon at any time, she would have told you.” Ranma’s eyes fell, and Belldandy continued, “You might as well ask why we didn’t stop you from falling into the Spring of Drowned Girl, or stop your father from throwing you into a pit full of starving cats, or prevent the seppuku pledge for that matter. Your life is your own, Ranma, we aren’t going to live it for you, even if we could. But that means allowing you to suffer the consequences of your evil acts — or even just the stupid ones.”

Ranma gave a reluctant chuckle. “Well, ya got me there. I was so sure that I’d go through with it no matter what, I didn’t bother ta ask.”

“No, you didn’t,” Belldandy agreed. “And truthfully, even if Ku Lon _had_ given you all the facts, don’t you think you’d have still risked it? After all, three hundred years of no effect ...”

Ranma reluctantly nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” she said with a sigh. “I’m just glad you’re here now. Come ta think of it, if ya can’t interfere why are ya here now?”

“Normally, I wouldn’t be,” the goddess admitted. “Whatever happened to you from here on out would still be a natural consequence. Usually, Asgard is restricted to granting wishes to the deserving, and Niflheim is restricted to making deals with those willing to do so. But sometimes, the other side cheats.” Ranma snorted, and Belldandy chuckled lightly. “I know, I know, that’s somewhat like saying that sometimes fish breathe water. I suppose I should have said that sometimes they cheat and succeed, we watch them _very_ closely.”

Sobering, she softly said, “And one of those times was four hundred years ago, when one of Hild’s demons gave the succubus you call the Bitch Queen the knowledge she needed to locate and murder all the succubae that weren’t her slaves. Since what resulted from that act came about through a violation of the treaty, we are allowed our own intervention seeking to counteract it, and we have long sought a way to benefit all those that have been enslaved, and others as well. And this is _our_ intervention.”

“ _This?!_ ” Ranma asked incredulously. “A shoulder ta cry on? That’s all?”

“Well, that and some advice,” Belldandy conceded, smiling. “Two suggestions. First, Akane is not exactly a sharing person. Even if she still wishes to build a life with you, she is going to have a hard time accepting your new needs. Be understanding, but don’t let her resume using you as a punching bag.

“Second, Nabiki and Ku Lon are not nice people, or even good people in some ways, but both are honorable in their own way and both now consider you family, if for very different reasons. As odd as it may sound, you can trust them to have your best interests at heart. However, both will want to be in charge, and it would be easy to simply let them make all the decisions. Don’t.”

Ranma nodded thoughtfully. “Good advice, I’ll remember it.” Then, gazing into the deep blue eyes brimming with all the love she’d looked for and never seen in her own mother’s eyes, on impulse Ranma leaned forward and gently kissed Belldandy on the lips. After a few minutes, she pulled back and smiled shakily. “Hey, whatever happens, thanks.”

Belldandy smiled back. “You’re welcome,” she said in the serene tone that reminded Ranma so much of Kasumi.

The two simply stared at each other for a long moment, then turned when the burly man to their right stiffened. “Woah!” he said, “now _that’s_ a serious ride.” The two girls followed his gaze, and Ranma gaped at the sight of a limo driving down the street toward them, a motorcycle with a sidecar behind it.

The limo came to a stop in front of them, the front passenger door opened, and out stepped a gorgeous tall, white-haired, tanned, skimpily dressed woman with ... three triangle tattoos on her cheeks and forehead. “Well, little sis, it looks like things went fairly well,” she said, an eyebrow climbing and a faint smirk on her lips.

As she spoke, the back doors opened and Kasumi and Nabiki climbed out, Nabiki bringing up her ever-present camera. “Hey, Ranma, looking good!” she said with a wry smile as a frozen Ranma blushed and Kasumi gave her younger sister a slight disapproving frown. “Now, sister —” Kasumi started, only to break off as Akane, eyes swollen and cheeks rough and reddened, climbed out of the back seat.

“R-Ranma?” she whispered shakily, eyes darting between the redhead and the brown-haired woman in whose lap she was sitting. Her eyes clung to the three tattoos for a moment, as Urd’s words from earlier — _I and my sisters will see to her wellbeing_ — echoed in her mind. She smiled weakly. “Well, y-y-you seem to be d-doing well enough,” she managed to get out in a poor imitation of a light tone, and Ranma seemed to practically levitate from Belldandy’s lap onto her own two feet.

“No! It’s not what ya think!” Ranma almost shouted, arms waving. “I mean Belldandy’s been a big help, but ... but —”

“Yes, I’m sure she has!” Akane growled, stalking toward the redhead. “Well, Baka, let me tell you ...” Walking up to the nearly-panicked girl, she threw her arms around her and Ranma squawked as the strength of the hug drove the breath from her body. After a few moments, Ranma hesitantly wrapped her arms around her shaking wife to return the hug as best she could with her upper arms pinned to her body. At the feel of the hug, Akane’s shaking eased off, and finally she pulled back to look Ranma in the eyes. Pasting on a shaky smile and ignoring the two slow tears running down her cheeks, the black-haired girl managed to whisper with only a bit of a tremor, “I don’t care what she did to help you, let’s go home — let’s go to bed.”


	15. The Morning After

Ranma slowly came awake in the arms of her lover, the fur on the back of her shoulders pressed against Akane’s chest, her tail curled around one of her lover’s legs.  Her eyes cracked open slightly to gaze at the bookshelf across the room she was sharing with Akane. Ranma’s nose wrinkled slightly, teased by the scent of the intense sex she’d shared with Akane as soon as they’d gotten home. Akane had insisted, with Ranma in her new natural form, saying she wanted to prove beyond a doubt that she still wanted to build a life with Ranma.  Ranma had insisted it was dangerous, but Akane had rebutted that if Ranma had become that dangerous the self-proclaimed goddesses that had spoken to them the previous night would have said so. And she’d turned out to be right, though not by all that much. Ranma had remembered what that flood of energy had felt like, had managed to limit it to a trickle, but the mind-blowing orgasm that had accompanied that flood had made it _very_ hard. If it hadn’t been for her experience channeling ki, it would have probably been impossible.

For a time the redhead simply lay there, mind running again over the events of the previous day, when she’d simultaneously ceased to be both human and monogamous, turned into ... she wasn’t sure what, yet. _And why didn’t ya ask just what ya might be getting into? Not even when Nabiki had told ya you’d be dangerous around girls at first,_ Ranma thought. _It might not have made a difference, but ya did it again — charged in, sure ya could handle anything._

Finally, Ranma sighed and gently moved Akane’s arm to the side, slipped her tail from around Akane’s legs, tossed back the top blanket and rolled out of bed. Behind her, the center of her world made a querulous sound at the loss of her bedwarmer, and Ranma turned to find the black-haired girl’s eyes open, cloudy with sleep. Sitting on the bed, she leaned over and gently kissed her even as one hand settled on Akane’s bare midsection. _My child! She’s really havin’ my child!_ flashed through her mind, half exultant, half terrified. “Good morning, Tomboy,” the redhead whispered.

Akane’s eyes cleared, and she smiled up as she stared into the blue eyes inches away, a hand sliding over to cover the Ranma’s on her stomach. “Good morning, Baka,” she whispered back. “Why don’t you climb back in here?”

Ranma chuckled, but sat back and shook her head even as she ignored the heat building in her cleft and the crinkling tightening of her nipples as her eyes feasted on her lover’s nude glory. Sobering, she said, “Sorry, but much as I’d like that I have questions — a lot of ‘em — that need answers I should a’ had yesterday. Especially from Nabiki.”

“Nabiki?” Akane questioned.

Ranma nodded. “Yeah, Nabiki. Yesterday she told me before the meeting with the Amazons that if I did change I’d need ta feed, and that I wouldn’t be safe around girls until I did. Now I’m wonderin’ how much more she knew that she didn’t tell me.”

Memories from the previous evening flashed through Akane’s mind, of Nabiki pulling her away from a transformed Ranma, what she’d said as she pushed Ranma out the door. The exact meaning of those words had been lost on her in her fear for her lover, but now she shot upright in the bed, face twisted with anger, hand shaped as if gripping something even as a foggy red light flickered in the space between her thumb and fingers and formed into The Hammer. “She _knew_?! _You_ knew?!” the youngest Tendo shouted. Ranma nodded even as she hastily stood up and backed away.

“Only what I told ya, that’s all Nabiki told me — all she said she knew.... Akane, put away the hammer,” Ranma said as soothingly as she could.

Akane glared at her for a long moment, then took a deep breath and the hammer vanished as she grimaced at the scent of the room. “Right,” she said. “First we get cleaned up, then we get something to eat, and _then_ we get some answers.”

“Okay, just let me get rid a’ the tail and horns,” Ranma said, closing her eyes, only to open them again at Akane’s half-shouted “Wait!”

“No, don’t,” Akane said softly, rising from the bed and stepping forward to hug the smaller redhead, running her hands along the strip of fur running down along Ranma’s spine. “It’s what you are, now. Sure, look human when we’re outside or with company, but don’t go hiding what you are at home.”

Ranma returned the hug for a long moment, resting her head on Akane’s shoulder. Finally, she chuckled quietly and murmured, “Sounds good ta me. So, which sister suggested that to you, Nabiki or Kasumi?”

Akane stiffened and tried to pull away only to find herself pinned in place by the smaller girl’s arms. “You don’t think I can come up with something like that on my own?” she growled.

“Did you?”

“Well ... no, it was Kasumi,” Akane finally admitted, relaxing. “But she pointed out that it’s the same thing Nabiki suggested when I wanted to go completely public.”

“You’re right, it is,” Ranma said, finally pulling back to arm’s length and looking up slightly into her lover’s eyes. “And all three of you are right, I’ll go like this around the house. So, let’s get cleaned up.”

Akane nodded, returning the gaze and carefully ignoring the two small white horns above Ranma’s deep blue eyes.

/oOo\

When Nabiki finished relating what she and Xian Pu had learned so far on the nature of succubae from the scrolls the other Amazon elders had brought with them from China, Ranma, still in her now-natural succubus form ( _sans_ wings), sat silent for a time, simply gazing at her across the low table the redhead, the three Tendo sisters, and Xian Pu all knelt around. Ranma’s gaze flicked over to Xian Pu, off to the side where she’d sat ever since she’d arrived with the news that her great-grandmother and Mu Tze had left for China, then across to where Kasumi sat beside the mercenary Tendo, over to Akane, wincing slightly at the strained expression on her lover’s blanched face, then back to the middle Tendo.

Finally, even as Ranma reached out to put a comforting arm around Akane and pulled her against her, the redheaded succubus asked quietly, “And how much of this did ya know, before ya shoved me out the door of the Cat Café ta maybe murder some random stranger?”

Xian Pu winced and Kasumi stiffened, turning to stare at her younger sister, but Nabiki’s return gaze didn’t waver. “I didn’t know most of it, but I did know that you were possibly lethal. But as I said, a good part of your possible lethality depends on the sexual endurance of your partners. If the Amazon Council had done its job properly it wouldn’t have been a problem — the ceremony called for a couple of male short-hitters to be around in order to ‘feed’ you if you turned out to be the new Champion. But instead, a faction of the Council chose to play petty internal gotcha politics, demonstrating Ku Lon’s lack of power by blowing us off as much as possible. So when you changed, there were no males around to protect us from you, especially Akane.”

Akane turned toward Xian Pu. “Shampoo, is that true?” A thoroughly miserable Amazon teenager nodded jerkily, staring at the floor, and Akane started to rise, face twisting in anger, only to freeze then drop back when the arm around her waist tightened and held her back.

“Relax, Akane, it isn’t Shampoo’s fault,” Ranma told the youngest Tendo, and Akane twisted to face her.

“Ranma, you can’t just ignore — !”

“I’m not, but the Council is in China, not exactly where I can get to ‘em right now,” Ranma said, then looked over at Xian Pu. “Besides, I suspect Cologne is going to do something about it herself, right, Shampoo?”

Xian Pu looked up, still shamefaced but nodding vigorously. “Is true! Great-grandmother very angry, will get home first to tell Council what happen here, ask where men were, why Elders Pa Fum and Sah Lon so rude, tell of way Ranma accept alliance. Her enemies lose much much face, be hurt badly.”

“You see? It’s handled,” Ranma soothed, pulling the stiff Tendo against her and running her hand along Akane’s side.

For long moments Akane remained stiff, glaring at the purple-haired Amazon, but finally took a deep breath and relaxed. “All right,” she ground out reluctantly

Ranma sighed softly in relief, then turned back to Nabiki, stiffening herself. “Okay, but that doesn’t explain why ya just tossed me out the door,” she said, voice hard.

“What would you have me do?” Nabiki asked with a shrug. “Try to restrain you? Who in that room really could have? Well, maybe Cologne could,” she conceded thoughtfully, “but what then? Would you have one of us risk death or being transformed into a succubus as well? Or would you rather simply starve to death? No,” she continued, shaking her head, “Given a choice between losing my sister’s chosen mate, risking one of us dying or doubling the problem, or risking the life of some man that none of us even know, I’ll take the latter.”

She met Ranma’s glare without flinching, and finally Ranma sighed. “Okay, Nabs, ya were lookin’ out fer yer own,” she said. “But don’t be doin’ this to me again, especially when lives are on the line — if people are gonna die because of something I do, _I’m_ gonna be the one that makes the call, got it?”

Nabiki’s eyes finally dropped, and she eventually nodded.

Kasumi leaned forward, picked up the kettle in the middle of the table, and quietly refreshed everyone’s tea. Silence reigned in the room as the five teenagers let the tension of the last few minutes drain away. Finally, Nabiki reluctantly broke the silence. “This is all well and good, but it doesn’t answer the question of how we keep Ranma topped off. Last night Urd told us that it would take at least four people of average health to keep Ranma alive.” Glancing apologetically at her younger sister, she added, “Sorry, sis, but I’m inclined to believe her. You’re pregnant so Ranma can’t change you into a succubus, so if you try to keep Ranma to yourself you’ll just end up dead — and your baby along with you. And that just covers the daily feeding, it doesn’t touch the extra feeding Ranma’s going to need to practice her new powers.” Looking around at the rest of the girls, she continued, “So, any ideas?”


	16. Looking for a Flock

Ranma shrugged. “It seems simple enough,” she said nonchalantly. “There’s plenty of boys at school that’ll be happy ta help out — certainly enough that I won’t hafta drain one very much or very often. If all else fails, Kuno’ll be happy ta help out,” she finished with a grimace, unable to suppress a wince.

Akane froze. “No!” she shouted. “There is no way you’re sleeping with that ... that ...”

“Akane’s right,” Nabiki broke in, “at least in general. Do you remember why you decided not to go public with your lesbian relationship — your plans to reopen the dojo? Well, Ranma getting a reputation for being a complete slut would be just as bad if not worse. No, using the boys at school isn’t the answer, even though they’d be more than happy to help out. You’re going to need a different answer.”

Akane slowly relaxed, as Ranma ran a gentle hand along her back. Taking some deep breaths, the youngest Tendo asked as calmly as she could, “All right, Nabiki, stop playing around, what’s your idea for ... for feeding Ranma?”

It was Nabiki’s turn to shrug. “I should think it’s obvious — Ranma needs to go professional.” The room went silent, and Nabiki looked around at the confused expressions. “You know, get paid for it?” she added.

“Are you saying that Ranma should become a prostitute, walk the streets waiting for men to pick her up?” Akane asked, and Nabiki stiffened at the quiet tone of the question, all emotion leached out of her younger sister’s voice.

“Easy, Akane, easy,” Ranma whispered in her lover’s ear, then said more loudly, “That’s a good question, is that what you’re suggesting?”

“Yes and no, not all prostitutes are made equal,” Nabiki asserted, then sighed. “Listen, Ranma, you’re going to need to have sex with someone once a day on average just to survive, and when you start practicing your new powers it’ll have to be more than one to avoid being noticed and with men to avoid creating new succubae. If you want to preserve your reputation in Nerima, it’ll have to be strangers outside of the district. And if you’re going to be sleeping with stranger after stranger anyway, you might as well be paid for it — especially since you have a kid on the way, babies are expensive.”

The blood drained from Akane’s face and she swayed slightly in place, hand rising to rest against her abdomen, and Ranma glared at her unofficial sister-in-law as she pulled Akane’s head down to rest on her shoulder and her lover’s arms circled her. “That was low, Nabiki,” she growled, Xian Pu adding her own glare and even Kasumi frowning slightly in disapproval.

“True, though,” Nabiki replied with a shrug, apparently unconcerned with the others’ disapproval. “But I said ‘yes and no’ — that not all prostitutes are made equal. I’m not suggesting that you become a streetwalker. What would you say to playing a role for clients that want to sleep with a rough-edged tomboy, in rooms set up to look like a typical girl’s bedroom, or schoolroom, or some other setting?”

“Ya know somewhere like that?” Ranma asked.

“Yes, I do, a cosplay and fantasy house, for clients that dream of sleeping with both general types — loligoths, tomboys, the sweet and innocent type, schoolgirls — as well as specific characters from various manga and anime. I’m told Sailor Moon is especially popular, but you could probably find yourself dressed up as any number of redheaded warriors from manga. The woman that owns the place makes a good living, but puts enough back into the place to cover her girls’ medical needs. She’ll insist you keep up your schoolwork, though, she has an arrangement with the local school district to make sure her girls can get apparently legal high school degrees and help them move on to college if they wish when they leave her house.”

Ranma fell silent for a few moments, then slowly nodded. “That could work,” she said thoughtfully.

Suddenly Kasumi spoke up. “Just how do you know this woman?” she asked, a slight edge to her voice, and Nabiki’s face instantly lost all expression.

Gazing calmly at her older sister, she replied, “I found her when I went looking for the safest and most pleasurable way to sell my virginity.” The room fell silent, and Nabiki glanced around at what this time were stunned expressions, then actually smiled impishly.

“Y-Y-You ... s-sell ...” Akane finally stuttered out.

“Yes, I sold my virginity to the highest bidder,” Nabiki said, smiling sardonically. “Virginity’s a commodity, like any other, and I wanted to get top yen for it. But I’d listened to the stories from girls at school that were posting their phone numbers and photos in phone booths near stations for extra spending money, about how awful the first time could be. I wanted to enjoy it, as much as possible — to have a partner that cared about my needs as well as his own. It took some doing, but I found this place and convinced the madam to try a new sideline. Since then, I’ve quietly steered the occasional schoolmate her way — for a cut, of course. It’s a winning situation for everyone: some of the clients get to live out their fantasies with real virgins instead of pretend ones; the girls get more money than they would if they simply posted their name up, in a safe, romantic place and end up with memories that are at least not bad, perhaps even good; the madam gets more steady clients as they hope for a chance to live out their fantasies for real; and I make more money.”

Finally, Kasumi’s voice broke the shocked silence. “And was your first time as good as you’d hoped?” she asked quietly, looking oddly wistful.

Nabiki gazed at her for a moment, her smile going oddly gentle. “Yes,” she said softly, “it was. My client was kind, understanding and patient, all an inexperienced girl could ask for. I’ve actually slept with him a few more times over the years — for a fee, of course, though not much of one.” Then, smile turning impish again, she continued, “Would you like me to set you up with him? You’re a little old for his tastes, but I’m sure he’d be happy to do me a favor, and like I said he’s very good.”

Kasumi shook her head, blushing beet red, and Nabiki chuckled as she turned to face Ranma. “Well?” she asked.

Ranma stared at her, and suppressed a start as suddenly the strange swirling misty glows from the previous night reappeared, the colors faded somewhat in the light of day but still clear to her eyes. Shifting her gaze to the other girls then back to the middle Tendo, Ranma carefully kept her mental frown from her face. _Weird,_ she thought, her eyes shifting again from the heavy black and grays with the occasional strip of white swirling about Nabiki to the almost exact opposite of Kasumi (at least in the quantities of each shade — if there were patterns to the colors, she couldn’t see them yet), and back.

Then the redhead shook herself and closed her eyes. _Worry about it later, Ranma, ya got a decision ta make. Do ya trust Nabiki this time?_ She thought over what Nabiki had said, and tried to think of a better way to keep herself fed while remaining at the dojo. Her decision was made easier by the fact that she couldn’t. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes (relieved that the odd mists were gone), then nodded as Akane’s embrace tightened. “Yeah, it sounds like the best option available, I’ll do it. When do ya think I can start, tonight?”

“Oh, no, not that fast,” Nabiki instantly disagreed. “First, I’ll need to contact the madam and see if she’s agreeable. She’ll probably want to meet you first before she agrees, she’s a little picky about what girls work for her and this isn’t the normal way she finds them. Then you’ll have at least a week of nightly training, and you won’t want to feed off your sensei. So it’ll be over a week, at least, before you can start feeding regularly there.”

“But Ranma will need to ... to feed right away, she can’t wait until then!” Akane protested. “What do we do until then?”

“We take care of New Girl until she no need our help,” Xian Pu said firmly. “With you, me,” — glaring at Nabiki, who reluctantly nodded — “Mercenary Girl, we do okay until job start.”

“And me,” came Kasumi’s voice, in a stern tone rarely heard by the others. “I am a member of this family as well, not some porcelain doll to display on a shelf — I will do my part,” she said firmly, and Akane’s and Ranma’s protests died unspoken. Glancing at each other, they reluctantly nodded without saying a word, and she smiled. “Thank you,” she added.

“You’re welcome,” the redhead responded, sighing. “Okay, Nabiki, why don’t ya get the ball rolling? Akane needs ta practice her new katas, an’ me an’ my new battle sister are gonna spar a bit, see about learnin’ ta fight together.” As she stood, she added, “Oh, an’ Nabiki, ya do know where Mom is stayin’, don’t ya?” Nabiki nodded. “Good, I need ta talk to her.” And before Nabiki could ask why, the newborn succubus rose and strode from the family room, her red spade-tipped tail swishing behind her, Akane and Xian Pu in her wake.


	17. Bank Shot

A bleary-eyed Ukyo stumbled into her restaurant’s kitchen to begin preparing for the day, opening cupboards and pulling out pots and pans with more than the usual amount of noise, while her mind yet again ran over what her cross-dressing waitress had reported when she finally returned home the previous evening — the report that had kept her awake on her futon most of the night, and colored her dreams during what little sleep she’d been able to get.

Unbidden, her mind replayed a montage of the images that had haunted her dreams, the redheaded, busty female form of her best friend writhing naked beside her as the chef’s lips captured a crinkled nipple and her calloused hands roamed across her friend’s body, slipped between her legs ... The bowl into which the suddenly furiously blushing Ukyo had been pouring the ingredients for the batter for her justly famous okonomiyaki flipped across the kitchen as a hand came down on the rim, throwing its contents across the kitchen.

She stared at the mess for a moment, then looked up as Konatsu looked through the wide serving window from where he had been setting up places on the tables in the dining room. “Mistress, is everything all right?” the beautiful, perfectly dressed young man asked.

“Yeah, everything’s fine, Sugar, just placed a hand wrong,” Ukyo assured him. Konatsu looked doubtful, but nodded and turned back to his task while Ukyo fetched the broom and dustpan.

A few minutes later, the mess swept up, she turned back to the ingredients then paused when her eyes fell on the knives she’d need to use for the toppings—the slightly out of focus knives. _Forget it, Sugar, if you try to get through the day like this, even if you don’t cut off something important you’ll be losing customers thanks to the garbage you’ll be serving._ “Hey, Konatsu!” she called out, “Put the place settings back and take the day off, we won’t be opening.”

Konatsu looked up, then nodded. “Good, I can use the day for the laundry, bedroom, the shower could use a scrubdown —”

“Woah! I said a day off, I meant a day off!” Ukyo said hastily. “Take a walk in the park, go to a movie, do _something_ to have fun. Shoo!”

Konatsu’s doubtful look was back, but he finally nodded and started picking up the silverware he had just laid out, while Ukyo washed the bowl she’d dirtied and put the pans away. A few minutes later, he was gone and Ukyo had the restaurant to herself.

Heating up water for her favorite tea, Ukyo took the kettle and saucer back to one of the tables and sat, her mind once again running over Konatsu’s report as she poured. _So the Ranma Weirdness Magnet keeps up its streak, and now he’s — she’s — some sort of demon that feeds on sex. Only Ranma.... Konatsu said Nabiki told him she’d be dangerous around women, but only at first. And she got in a limo with the Tendos, including Nabiki, so she must have been safe by then. But what does it matter? Ranma’s chosen to live as a girl, now, any feeding she does will be as a girl, and you’ve never swung that way._ Yet again, the dreams came to mind, Ranma-chan’s lips pressed to hers, but this time it was Ukyo writhing as Ranma’s skilled fingers played between her widespread legs ... and the cute former fiancée jerked to her feet, suddenly finding any interest in the tea gone, and headed for the back door. Maybe a workout at the park ... _I’m not like that, I’m not! And Akane would resent me getting involved._ An unwilling chuckle escaped. _Resent it, hells, she’d_ hate _it, and me. But this is Ranma, and she might need my help ..._

She paused by the back door and simply stood for a time, her hand on the lock. Finally, she turned around and strode back to the telephone and quickly dialed the number for the Tendo dojo before she had time to change her mind. “Hello ... Kasumi? It’s Ukyo.” ... “Yeah, I’m fine. Listen, Konatsu told me about last night, what he was told by Nabiki and saw, anyway. Is Ran-chan alright?” ... “Oh, good, glad to hear it. Listen, let Ran-chan know that anything she needs that I can help with — anything at all — she’s to call and I’ll be right over. Okay?” ... “Yes, I know what I’m talking about, Nabiki had to explain at least some of it to Konatsu before he accepted the job. Just tell Ranma.” ... “Thanks, Kasumi.” ... “Yeah, you too. Bye.”

Hanging up the phone, Ukyo took a deep breath, feeling light, and just a bit lightheaded. Looking around the restaurant, she smiled. _You know, I think I can actually work now, and if I hurry I can still get most of the lunch rush. Sure, Konatsu’s gone, but I ran this place without him before and can again — for a few hours, at least._ Striding back into the dining room, she grabbed the table settings Konatsu had put away and started setting the tables.

/oOo\

Akane flinched, beaded sweat flipping from her face, at another light touch on her ribs. She whipped around, a waist-high kick scything out, but Ranma spun away from her counterstrike, the red fur running down her back to her tail flashing across Akane’s view for a split second, then the tail wrapped around Akane’s outstretched leg, pulling her off-balance and sending her rolling along the mat. “That’s enough,” Ranma said firmly, stepping back. “Yer gettin’ sloppy from fatigue, time ta quit.” Akane sighed and nodded, then rose and bowed to her sensei, careful to keep her eyes on the naked redhead as she did so. Ranma bowed back, and the two walked over to where towels were lying by the wall.

Xian Pu, already sitting there with her back against the wall watching, nodded approvingly. “Kitchen Destroyer better than last time Shampoo see her,” the purple-haired girl said. “New Girl — Battle Sister — good teacher.”

“Of course, Ranma’s a good teacher,” Akane asserted, offended for her lover’s sake. “She’s the best fighter around!”

But Xian Pu shook her head. “That not mean anything,” she replied. “It something Shampoo see at village — some warriors very good, almost as good as Shampoo, but horrible teachers. It like they learn to fight so good they can’t teach basics.” She shrugged. “It help that Kitchen Destroyer finally give up false pride, accept teaching.”

“Shampoo, please don’t call Akane that,” Ranma said.

“But it true!” Xian Pu asserted, glancing slyly at an Akane going red with anger.

Ranma glanced over at the raven-haired girl nervously, then reached out and took her hand with a sigh. “I know,” she admitted, “but it’s still an insult, and of someone that might have ta fight at your side.”

“Good point,” Xian Pu conceded. “Shampoo think up new name.”

“Why do you use those nicknames, anyway?” Akane asked irritably.

The Amazon shrugged. “It make opponents angry, help make Shampoo look stupid. But perhaps it time Shampoo drop mask,” she added thoughtfully.

“It would certainly cut down on repair costs,” came Nabiki’s voice, and the three girls looked over to find the middle Tendo leaning against the doorframe of the dojo. “I just got off the phone with Ayano-san — the madam,” she said to Ranma as she straightened and walked into the dojo, an eyebrow going up as her gaze ran up the naked redhead’s body to pause for a moment on the tiny white horns on her forehead. “I was right, she wants to talk to you first. We have an appointment tomorrow. Assuming she agrees after she sees you, the training would start tomorrow night.”

“Good, it’ll be good ta get the energy I need ta practice with my new abilities, see what I can do,” Ranma said with a smile.

“Remember, no feeding off your sensei,” Nabiki cautioned, “that would be too obvious.”

“Yeah, I know, I’ll wait ‘til the training’s over and I get real clients,” the redhead agreed.

Akane closed her eyes, her grip on Ranma’s hand tightening as she tried to fight back a surge of jealousy. “Ranma, why are you being so _calm_ about this?!” she shouted. “Just the thought of sleeping with guys was enough to give you nightmares! And now you’re going to have to ... to ... and you act like it doesn’t bother you at all!”

Ranma sighed and turned, pulling her lover into a hug. “I dunno,” she admitted. “I know how I used ta be, I remember the dreams, how they sometimes made me not want ta sleep, but I just don’t feel the same way anymore, I dunno why.”

“Shampoo know,” her battle sister said, glancing at Nabiki. “Shampoo and Mercenary Girl — Nabiki — find that in scrolls last night. Nabiki better able to explain.”

Nabiki nodded. “If you’re going to be staying here, we need to get you some language lessons. But yeah, we came across that, it’s because of how succubae make more succubae.” Seeing Ranma and Akane break apart to listen, she continued, “Alanya didn’t know from experience, but she thought it was because most new succubae were first lovers of the succubae that converted them over, so they had a good chance of being lesbians if not out and out manhaters. Considering that men are their main food source that would be a real problem, so the conversion makes them instant bisexuals.”

Akane stared at her older sister for a long moment, then slumped. “I guess that makes sense,” she mumbled as Ranma put an arm around her waist, then stiffened, looking sick as the blood drained from her face. “That means that if Ranma converts me, I’ll ... I’ll ...”

“End up liking men, at least when it comes to sex?” Nabiki finished, suddenly focusing on Akane. “Yes, you will. Why, are you thinking about it?”

“Well ... yeah — I know I can’t while I’m pregnant, but afterward ... Ranma’s immortal now, isn’t she?” Nabiki nodded. “So eventually I’ll grow old, and Ranma won’t.”

“Yes, Alanya thought that was a big part of why lesbians would agree to conversion,” Nabiki said. _And I don’t think I’ll mention that most such relationships eventually broke up._

“But that’s an issue for another day,” Kasumi said from the doorway. “Ranma, Ukyo-san just called, and asked me to pass on a message.”

/oOo\

Khalice sighed as she leaned back in her seat for a moment and closed her eyes, then straightened to again focus on the monitor in front of her. She knew how important the links between Yggdrasil and Nidhogg were, and that it was equally important to have a demon monitoring those links rather that leaving security purely to automated programming, but it was so mindnumbingly _boring_ — which was why demonic operators were cycled through on a regular basis, and it just happened to be her turn. _This isn’t really a punishment detail for that embarrassing boo-boo with the boy scout troop, that wasn’t your fault, it could have happened to anyone — right, keep telling yourself that._

Suddenly, a flashing red bar sprang across the screen, and a new window opened up. Khalice sat up straight as what the window showed registered — an automated reshuffling of the doublet system, jointly carried out by Yggdrasil and Nidhogg. But that only happened when a god or demon switched sides, and since she hadn’t been notified of any incoming — _Great, we lost another one, what does_ anyone _see in those gutless dreamers, I’ll never know._ (She carefully suppressed the memory of her one — very painful — encounter with a Valkyrie.)

_So, let’s see who we lost._ As the two computer networks finished their joint task, Khalice ran the comparison of the list of demons that had just had new doublet partners assigned to them with the same list from before the reshuffling. Only one name wasn’t on both lists so it hadn’t been one of the _extremely_ rare mass defections, and she quickly brought up the link to personnel assignments. _Alright, Kason, what were you doing that might have caused you to defect?_ she thought, perusing his file and frowning, then winced. _Over two hundred years watching some pools of water? Ouch! I’d think about defecting, myself, just to get a little action in my life. Who did_ he _piss off? Well, not your business._ But at least the excitement had given her something to speculate about during the rest of her shift.

/oOo\

A blonde demoness with two elongated diamonds in a ‘V’ pattern and two red triangles slightly below her eyes stepped through the permanent Gate between Niflheim and Jusenkyo. Walking a few short steps away from the base of the cliff, Mara gazed out for a moment across the valley at the numerous still pools with the bamboo poles in the their centers, then knelt by the closest pool and held her hand a few inches above the water to find what she’d half-expected — not a trace of Alanya’s centuries-old spell, simply the feel of the normal Jusenkyo magic, waiting for a drowning victim to imprint his, her, or its form on the water. Probing deeper, she sought any hint of the old spell and cursed as she finally found a hint of the activation trigger.

“Yup, Alanya’s spell has finally done its job, and just barely in time,” came the slightly mocking voice of one of the people Mara loved and sometimes hated more than any in the world, and the Demoness, 1st class, Unlimited, turned with a sigh to face a grinning Urd sitting on a boulder by the cliff face.

“Well, it was probably going to happen sooner or later,” she said with a slight shrug. “Though a little forewarning would have been nice. You wouldn’t have any idea just where Kason is, do you?”

Urd’s grin broadened even as it softened around the edges. “As a matter of fact, I do. The invitations to the wedding will be going out to those few friends he still had after being stuck here so long, not that he’s likely to get a favorable response even from them, now.”

“Marriage? Do I know the lucky lady?” Mara asked as her stomach knotted.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve seen her name a time or two,” Urd said airily. “She’s been Kason’s only constant companion for the past few centuries, and a more simple, sweet, lovable goddess you won’t find. Normally completely hopeless for field work, of course — and even moreseo now — but sometimes a goddess like her is just what the job calls for.”

Mara’s jaw muscles ached with the effort not to grind her teeth. _And we eventually decided that Sanli’s assignment as Kason’s counterpart meant that they’d given up on the succubae and were going through the motions, damn!_

Urd smoothly rose to her feet. “Well, now that we’ve confirmed you’re still in charge of this little sideshow, I’ll be off. Have fun trying to track down who the pool finally got,” she mocked, then walked over along the cliff face to Asgard’s permanent Gate to the Pools of Sorrow and was gone.


	18. Endings and Beginnings

Hours after Urd’s mocking farewell, Mara sighed and leaned back in her seat in front of a Nidhogg terminal, rubbing her eyes. _This is a colossal waste of time,_ she thought as she again focused on the monitor. _Kason’s older reports are out-of-date, his later ones can’t be trusted — and since we don’t know just when he was turned, who knows where the dividing line is?_

Straightening again, she nodded decisively. _All right, forget about trying to sift the wheat from the chaff in the later reports, let’s go back to the earliest ones and work forward, looking for any nuggets that might still be useful, after two hundred years._

Typing furiously, the blonde demon quickly brought up Kason’s very first report and started scrolling through page after page, skimming for any least hint of useful information, only to suddenly stiffen. _The Amazons started using Alanya’s pool for a coming of age ceremony? Not very smart of them, that would almost guarantee that it would never work, not enough experience on the part of the testers. But perhaps that’s what they wanted — honor Alanya’s memory and keeping someone else like her from popping up at the same time. Still ..._

Opening up another window, Mara set up a search for any further reports on the ceremony and breezed through the results, nodding at what she found. _So, they used it for initiating people into the tribe as well as turning trainees into warriors._ That _might work eventually, if a new member has what Alanya was looking for. There’s no way Kason would have reported it if that is what happened, so ..._

Saving her search parameters and results, she toggled the communications icon, selected Personnel, and leaned back again as a screen opened. “Personnel, Kerlon speaking,” the male dark-haired demon in the new window said.

“This is Mara, assigned to the Alanya/Jusenkyo case,” Mara responded. “I need some people for a surveillance mission.”

/oOo\

Ku Lon sat at the prow of the small, sleek ship cutting through the waters of the Sea of Japan and gazed out across the night-darkened waves. _Not bad,_ she thought luxuriating in her self-satisfaction. _Less than a day, and I’m already almost to China. I knew keeping that fixer on retainer would be useful, he really came through. Who cares if those idiots started back hours before I did, there’s no way they’re going to be able to match this!_

Leaning back and gazing up at the stars, she spent a few delightful moments reflecting on how best to phrase her report to the Council in such a way as to make clear the stupidity of the faction that had decided to dis the God Killer, and the qualified alliance with Ranma and his — her — allies that had resulted.

But thoughts of the Council sobered the ancient Elder, and with a sigh she straightened. _Please, let this fiasco shake those blinkered, parochial old sticks from the ruts they’ve been stuck in for the last couple of centuries! Internal competition is fine, keeps people on their toes when things are quiet, but not when the importance of everything that happens is measured by how it affects the domestic infighting. If only Ranma has chosen Xian Pu, just think what that chaos magnet would have done to life in the village ..._

But after a moment’s blissful consideration she shook her head. _No, it’s probably best as it turned out. As much as Ranma would have shaken things up, he’d probably have been dead within a year — use the right poison, and it doesn’t matter how in shape a man is, and there’s more than one of the most blinkered that would have been perfectly happy to use it to preserve their power and influence. Whatever the cost. Keeping him alive would have been_ very _difficult._

Mood now totally spoiled, Ku Lon rose and headed for the tiny cabin she had been given when she added herself to the smuggling run. She needed to be fully rested when they reached whatever out-of-the-way cove the smugglers would use to drop off whatever they were smuggling (she had carefully not asked), just in case the crew decided that, already having her money, their secrets would be safer if she just disappeared. She didn’t know just how the fixer she had retained had convinced them to add her to their run, but they had been distinctly unhappy to see her.

As she settled down for sleep, she found herself hoping they _would_ try something — she had some deep-seated frustration to work off.

/oOo\

Nabiki watched from the dark second-story window of the room that Genma and Ranma, and recently Genma and Nodoka, had used as by the koi pond a Ranma in demon form broke her embrace of her lover and stepped back. The red-haired/furred girl’s wings sprang from her back, and she leaped into the air and soared off into the night sky.

The mercenary Tendo watched with a sigh as she vanished into the darkness above the street lamps. _What would it be like to fly like that?_ Nabiki wondered for a moment, before turning her attention back to her younger sister. Akane, too, had been watching Ranma fly away, and at last she dropped her eyes and headed toward the house, quickly vanishing from sight. Nabiki listened intently, but when after a few minutes there was no sound of Akane coming up the stairs she turned around to face the room’s other two occupants. “Hit the lights, big sis,” she said, and the room’s light came on to reveal Kasumi by the door and Xian Pu leaning against the wall.

“Okay, Ranma’s gone off to visit her mother, and it looks like Akane’s headed either to the furo or the dojo, so we should be clear for a bit,” Nabiki reported. “So — the big question. When Ranma gets back she’s going to need to feed. Who goes first?”

Xian Pu and Kasumi exchanged glances, then the Amazon shrugged. “Ranma battle sister to Shampoo, so that — my — duty. Shampoo handle.” Nabiki carefully kept her relief off her face. _Good, that was just what I was hoping you’d say. And tomorrow I can see if Akane’s friends would be willing to help out, get Ukyo involved and keep Kasumi out —_

But Kasumi was shaking her head. “No, Shampoo, I should go first,” she said firmly.

Nabiki felt her smile congeal. “Why not Shampoo?” she quickly asked. “I’m sure it happens all the time back at the village, right Shampoo?”

Xian Pu nodded. “Is true. All women know must marry, produce babies for next generation of warriors, but women sleep with women all the time. Sometimes form lifetime couples.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kasumi replied. “The problem is Akane, and her jealousy. Shampoo’s been her rival for years, and the fact that you’re a better fighter doesn’t help,” she added to the purple-haired girl. “But there’s no way she’ll think for a moment that _I’m_ trying to take Ranma away from her. If I go first, it should make it easier for her to accept Shampoo or Ukyo, if Ranma takes her up on her offer, as a food source.”

Nabiki felt her heart sink at the stern expression on Kasumi’s face. Her older sister didn’t often exert herself, preferring to stay in the background and watch the show, but when she did she could quietly and calmly out-stubborn everyone else in the household. Nabiki desperately wracked her brain for counter-arguments as she settled in for a long debate.

/oOo\

Ranma grinned fiercely as she spiraled down toward the hotel her mother had been living in for the past three weeks, the singing tension she felt as she approached a meeting she’d been dreading since learning her mother had moved out of the Tendo home reduced to background noise at the thrill of her first flight. The redheaded earth demon had managed to follow Nabiki’s suggestion that she stay fairly close to the ground, but it had been hard — the urge to just head for the moon shining in the light/dark night sky had been nearly irresistible. ( _No need to start any UFO scares by popping up on someone’s radar_ , had been the middle Tendo’s comment in her usual snarky tone, and one of the first things Ranma was going to do when she had more energy to play with was learn how to use it to power the Umisenken.)

The winged girl changed her angle to aim for an empty alley a few buildings down from her destination, one that thanks to a broken street light would be in deep shadows. (And the odd way she could tell it was dark but still see clearly was something she still wasn’t used to.) Flipping around at the last moment and withdrawing her wings, Ranma’s feet hit the concrete and she immediately found herself rolling head over heels toward the alley entrance, stopping herself just before she erupted into the street, red-furred back strip, tail, tiny horns and all.

_Okay, that’s gonna take a little practice,_ she thought as she lay there listening for the approach of anyone that might have heard her arrival. No sounds came except the usual distant noise of a nighttime city, and finally she rose to her feet, checked to make sure her spaghetti-string camisole had survived the rough landing. A moment’s concentration had her looking her previously normal human self, and she strode out of the alley and down the street toward the hotel entrance.

/\

Saotome Nodoka sat at her rented room’s desk, staring out the window at the night-dimmed brick wall of the building next door, anchored in place by the lethargy she had found herself sunk in ever since the evening that her son had proven himself as honorless as his father. Since that day she had occasionally tried to consider what to do about Ranma, balance maintaining the family honor he had abandoned against the horror of facing life as alone as the long years of the training trip with no hope of a reunion at the end. (She had had such hopes for her husband when she had found out who “Panda-san” was, but the man had proven to be as much a failure as a husband as he was as a father — or for that matter as a man, considering how he had ignored her insinuations at what a proper reunion called for, however broadly she had hinted.)

But every movement had seemed as if she were pushing through air as thick as jello, every thought slowly meandering through a cotton shroud, and she had found it easier to simply sit and gaze unthinking at what little of the world could be viewed from her room.

A knock on the door shook the auburn-haired woman from her time-worn ruminations. She turned and stared at the door for a long moment, wondering idly who might be visiting — her husband would still be on his abrupt training trip; from Nabiki’s and Kasumi’s reactions to Ranma’s decision to abandon both honor and manhood she doubted that either of them would seek her out; and besides, she hadn’t informed anyone where she had moved to when her distress had driven her from the Tendo home.

A second knock came, and Nodoka finally forced herself up out of her seat and slowly made her way to the door, and unlocked it without bothering to look to see who was outside. The door swung open, and Nodoka’s comforting lassitude shattered and she stumbled back a step at the sight of her self-declared daughter standing there.

She stared in shock at the busty redhead, then demanded, “Ranma, what have you been doing, rolling in the dirt? And you aren’t wearing a bra, with _your_ size! No proper young woman leaves the house dressed like that!”

Ranma’s jaw dropped. She stared at her fuming mother for a long moment, then unwilling giggles turned into chuckles, and she found herself on her knees clutching her sides as she shook with laughter.

After a moment, Nodoka began to chuckle as she watched Ranma fight to bring herself under control.

Finally, Ranma fought the laughter down. She rose to her feet and asked, “May I come in?”

Sobering, Nodoka hesitantly nodded, then closed the door behind Ranma and watched as her daughter walked over to stare out the same window her mother had earlier.

The two stood in silence for several minutes as the room filled with tension, the earlier shared humor a memory. Finally, Ranma asked, “So, have ya decided if you’re gonna kick me out of the family yet?”

Nodoka shook her head jerkily then, realizing that Ranma couldn’t see her, said in a shaky voice, “No ... no, I haven’t.”

Ranma turned to face her, face calm. “Then I’m gonna make it easy on ya, an’ ask ya ta remove my name,” she quietly said.

Nodoka paled. “Wh-wh-why?” she stammered. “Have you found Genma’s and my disagreement with your decision so detestable you no longer want the name?”

Ranma instantly shook her head. “No, nothin’ like that. I’d be happy ta stay a Saotome. But now that I’m no longer human, it’s better if I go ronin so that what people think a’ how I act doesn’t reflect on the family.”

“No ... no longer human?” Nodoka repeated.

Ranma sighed, and told her tale of the previous day.

/\

“An’ so that’s where it stands,” the redhead finished. “What I’m gonna hafta do to stay alive ... it isn’t honorable by human standards. And ‘human’ is how I’m gonna want people ta think of me if I don’t want demon hunters swarmin’ around. So it’s best fer everyone if ya take my name off the family register.”

Nodoka simply sat for a few minutes on the bed where she’d collapsed under the weight of her daughter’s tale. Eventually, she sighed and rubbed her face. “Show me, please,” she requested.

Ranma gazed at her for a long moment, then shrugged and closed her eyes. Within seconds, her wings and horns sprouted out, and Nodoka saw red fur run along the top of her shoulders. A red-furred tail flicked into view from behind Ranma’s back.

Nodoka rose stiffly and walked over, then around the succubus, staring at her wide-eyed. Circle complete, she returned to the bed and sat back down. Slowly minute after minute passed as she stared into empty space, until at length she nodded and focused again on the demon that used to be her daughter. “You’re right, Ranma,” she said softly even as tears started to run down her cheeks. “From now on, you are no longer a Saotome.”

Ranma nodded abruptly in return, face stiff, eyes watery. “I’m sorry, Mom — Nodoka. Not for what I decided, it was the only way ta keep from killin’ Shampoo, but for how it turned out.”

When Nodoka nodded without saying anything, she hesitated, started for the door, only to pause and turn around. “There is one more thing, though — now that that’s settled, would ya consider moving back in with us? Akane’s pregnant and could probably use some help soon.”

Nodoka stiffened, eyes wide. “Akane? Pregnant?! But she said she’s a lesbian!”

“She is,” Ranma replied with a shrug. “But after we learned that I might turn inta a demon she suggested we not wait — not exactly safe to count on some deposits sittin’ in a freezer for years ta honor the fathers’ pact. So we tried, and it worked. Good thing, too, considerin’ how it worked out.” She paused, but Nodoka simply sat and stared at her. After a while, she shrugged again. “Well, think about it at least,” she said, and walked out, closing the door behind her.


	19. Kasumi's Night

Ranma spiraled down through the night sky toward the Tendo home, grinning again at the thrill of the short flight from her mother’s — former mother, now, Nodoka’s — hotel. Her transformation had caused plenty of problems, but at least she’d gotten one good thing out of it. Now if she could just land without making a hole in the roof....

Aiming for the roof directly above the lighted window to the room she was now sharing with Akane, the red-furred succubus spread her wings and slowed ... slowed ... and found herself hanging suspended in empty air ten feet too high before dropping to the roof with a thump.

A moment later, Akane slid the window open and stuck her head out, twisting around to look up. “Ranma, is that you?” she called up softly.

“Yeah, get out a’ the way, I’m comin’ in,” Ranma called back as her wings vanished into her back. Stepping off and twisting around as she dropped, she caught the roof’s edge and swung through the window into their room. Rising to her feet, she frowned as she looked over at Akane, still dressed in her usual weekend clothes — the swirling whites, blacks and grays were back.

Catching the frown, Akane worriedly asked, “What’s wrong? Did your mom not take it well?”

“No, she took it as well as I expected,” Ranma replied distractedly. “She agreed it’s best ta kick me outta the family. I told her you’re pregnant, and asked her ta move back here. She didn’t say no, so we’ll see.”

“So what’s wrong?” Akane repeated.

“I ... I’m not sure. Somethin’ weird keeps happenin’ ta my eyesight,” Ranma said, her spaded tail twitching nervously. She quickly described the colors she was seeing. “I keep intendin’ ta ask Nabiki an’ Shampoo about it, but it comes and go and I keep forgettin’.” Closing her eyes, she focused on what Akane was supposed to look like, and when she opened them again the translucent shades were gone. “All better, now.”

“Odd,” Akane said thoughtfully. “Do the colors around everyone look the same?”

“No, Kasumi had more white than you do an’ Nabiki more black, an’ the patterns are different.”

“Well, we’ll ask in the morning,” Akane decided, then drew a deep breath. “Tonight ... tonight you need to ... to eat.”

“Uh, yeah ... eat. Akane, ya know I wouldn’t if I didn’t —”

“Didn’t need to, I know,” Akane broke in even as she turned away, her arms rising to cross under her breasts. After a moment, Ranma stepped up behind her to hug her around the waist, laying her head on her lover’s shoulder.

The two simply stood in silence for a moment, Akane taking what comfort she could from Ranma’s embrace, then she finally forced herself to continue. “Kasumi came by awhile ago. It seems she, Nabiki and Shampoo had a little talk and they decided she’d be first.” Twisting around in Ranma’s arms, she put her own arms around Ranma’s back, stroking the fur that ran from her lover’s shoulders down to her tail. “But ... she had a request. She’s still a virgin, and she asked if I’d let you ‘correct’ that as ... as a guy. I said yes.”

Ranma’s own arms tightened. “Can I even do that?” she asked.

“You should be able to,” Akane replied. “Last night, when Nabiki told you to change shape to your human form, for a little bit you were shifting between your guy and girl sides. So you go over there and make my sister a very happy woman! But _only_ Kasumi, just this once, you understand — with the others, and after, you stick to what you need.”

“Will do,” her red-furred lover replied, then reluctantly broke away to pluck at her spaghetti-string camisole. “It’s too bad I can’t just put some holes in the back of my shirts for the wings, this is _way_ too girly for me.” With a sigh, she pulled it up and off over her head.

Akane’s eyes focused on the bouncing orbs Ranma had just uncovered. “On the other hand, there’s no need to be all night,” she hastily added, and Ranma laughed as she loosened the ties around her ankles, then pulled her pants down her legs and stepped out of them. Now Akane’s eyes were slightly glazed over as she admired the tailed girl’s nude body. She had always admired — not to say lusted after — Ranma’s girl form, but she had to admit that the new horned, tailed and furred form had an impact that made her human form seem plain in comparison.

Ranma paused in the middle of taking her robe out of the closet, and struck a saucy pose. “Still like what ya see, fur and all?” she asked slyly.

“Oh, yes ...” Akane breathed.

“Good, I’ll be back before ya know it and then ya can play with it,” Ranma replied with a grin. Slipping on the robe, she headed for the bedroom door, only to pause again at a sudden thought. Stepping back into the room, she removed the robe and tossed it over the chair, then glided over to her wide-eyed lover. “This body you’re admiring so much?”

“Y-y-yes? Wh-what about it?” Akane stuttered.

“It’s all yours.”

“What does that mean?” a confused Akane asked. “Of course, it’s mine, just like my body is yours.”

“No, what I mean is that it’s only yours — whatever I might do with my other forms, whoever I do it with, you’re the only one that gets ta play with this one. It’s not much, certainly not what ya wanted, but it’s somethin’.”

Akane stared for a moment, then threw her arms around her lover. “Thank you,” she whispered. Then she reluctantly pushed Ranma away. “Now go!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ranma replied, grabbed her robe again, and sauntered out the door with it in hand, her tail swishing back and forth as she walked drawing Akane’s gaze like a magnet to her firm buttocks.

/\

Kasumi looked up from her steamy romance novel at the knock on her bedroom door, then put it aside. Swinging her legs over the side of her bed, the nervously eager young woman smoothed down the ankle-length, long-sleeved nightgown she slept in. “Come in!” she called out.

The door opened, and the eldest Tendo sister’s eyebrows rose even as a wave of disappointment washed over her. “Oh, my! Ranma, aren’t you supposed to _wear_ robes instead of simply carrying them?” she asked bemusedly.

The very naked succubus glanced at the robe in her hand, then tossed it over Kasumi’s stool in front of the makeup mirror with a shrug. “Sure, but I was havin’ fun teasin’ Akane and didn’t see the point ta puttin’ it on just ta walk down the hall.”

“Ah, I see. I suppose if Akane couldn’t teach you feminine modesty before, she’s unlikely to succeed now,” the older girl mused, then stiffened as a nasty thought occurred to her. “Ranma ... did Akane mention my request?”

“Ya mean ta be a guy for yer first time? Sure, I just didn’t want ta try and change in front of Akane, not sure how’d she’d take it.”

“Oh good,” Kasumi said with a sigh, shoulders slumping in relief. “I thought maybe ... anyway, can you change?”

“One way ta find out,” Ranma replied, and closed her eyes. The change between her human and demonic forms had become effortless, without thought — this wasn’t and minutes passed as nothing happened. _This isn’t workin’, just willin’ it to happen,_ she finally thought to herself. _How did I do it the first time?_ she cast her mind back to the previous night at the Cat Café, on her knees, Nabiki staring into her eyes and telling her to ... _Right, remember what I look like, pull up that image, cover myself with it. So, what’s the last really great memory as a guy?_ The question had been rhetorical, and a gentle smile crossed the girl’s face as she thought back to a Friday afternoon when their child had been conceived, kneeling between Akane’s legs, gazing down at his gasping, blindfolded lover as her tight, wet, hot love tunnel clamped down on his pistoning cock.

Kasumi watched as the busty redhaired succubus in front of her seemed to waver, and then Ranma’s waving tail abruptly shrank and vanished behind her and the red fur along her shoulders thinned and pulled down into the underlying skin. Those shoulders rose, widened, her oversized breasts shrank into a firmly muscled chest, the thick bush of hair above darkened, and below —

“Oh, my!” the housewifely Tendo breathed, blushing at the sight of the dark patch of pubic hair and just below, Ranma’s manhood, already fully erect and ready for action.

Ranma opened his eyes and looked down. “What d’ya know, it worked,” he commented, running his hands over his flatter, harder chest.

“Yes, it most certainly did,” Kasumi murmured as she stepped over to the pigtailed boy. Dropping to her knees, she reached out and hesitantly ran her fingers along Ranma’s erection, giggling when it twitched, then leaned forward to kiss the tip and run her tongue along its length to its base. She smiled at the sound of Ranma sucking in a breath at her attentions, then returned to his cockhead, carefully keeping her teeth away as she slid her mouth down until his cock bumped up against the back of her throat. Finding herself fighting a gag reflex, she pulled back a bit then started bobbing, her tongue playing along her mouthful. A hand circled the base of the erection and began pumping in time with her head and her other hand played with the hanging balls.

Ranma groaned at the warm, wet sensations of his first blowjob. Closing his eyes and reaching down to gently grasp his partner’s head, his hips began to move in time with Kasumi’s attentions. For a few minutes the room was silent except for soft slurping sounds and Ranma’s groans and murmurs of appreciation. But finally, he reluctantly pulled Kasumi’s head away. “Enough, Kasumi — much as I’m enjoyin’ this, we need ta get ta you.”

Kasumi glanced up as his cockhead popped free of her mouth. “But you haven’t come yet,” she protested.

Ranma shrugged. “I’m not sure I can, anymore.” He let go of her head and reached down to grasp her under the armpits and lift her to her feet. “Besides,” he continued, “ _someone_ here is overdressed.” Grasping her nightgown by the waist, he pulled it up over her head and down her arms and tossed it to the side. Stepping back, he ran his eyes along the body now on display. A few inches taller than her youngest sister, muscles softer, breasts a bit larger but not as firm, and down below — “Hey, ya shaved!”

Kasumi blushed beet red, hands making abortive motions to cover her groin and chest. “I ... I know I’m not as beautiful as Shampoo, Akane, even Nabiki —” she said, eyes dropping to the floor. Ranma stared at her for a moment, flustered, as he stomped on the first thought that came to mind. _You’ve eaten yer feet enough, let’s try actually_ thinkin’ _before ya open yer mouth,_ he thought to himself. After a moment he stepped forward and lifted her chin with a gentle hand. “Now, don’t ya be comparin’ yerself ta Akane,” he said. “Ya look fine, believe it!” Kasumi gasped and clutched at him as he reached down to cup her clean-shaven mound. “So what’s up with this? And when did ya learn how ta do a blowjob? Akane said you’re a virgin.”

“I-I am,” Kasumi replied unsteadily. “I l-l-learned it f-from my romances.”

“From your romances?” Ranma repeated with a chuckle as his fingers began tracing a path along the smooth skin around his companion’s cleft.

“Y-y-yes,” Kasumi agreed even as she felt her knees going weak and strengthened her grip on the younger boy to keep herself on her feet. “They c-c-can get p-pretty explic-c-c-it.”

“Well, I bet I can match what they come up with,” Ranma boasted. “Let’s find out.” With a hand behind her knees and another along her back, he swung Kasumi off her feet and stepped over to lower her onto her bed, then lay down beside her, leaning up on one arm to stare down into her eyes. Reaching out, he ran fingers along a cheek, down along her jaw, throat, and on down until she sucked in a breath as he cupped a breast, running his thumb over a crinkled tight nipple. Even as her breathing picked up her eyes remained fixed on his, closing only as he bent down to gently cover her mouth with his.

Again, Kasumi put her book knowledge to work, her lips parting, offering an invitation to Ranma that he was quick to take up, his tongue snaking in to intertwine with hers. Without thinking, her arms came up to circle around Ranma’s back, pulling him against her. The hand that had been occupying itself with her full orb, now finding its explorations hindered, slowly stroked down her side, along the side of a thigh. Finding her legs together, Ranma gently pushed one leg to the side, giving his fingers access to their target, and Kasumi moaned into his mouth as this time his fingers slipped up the length of her cleft between her already damp folds to brush across the swollen nub at the top peeking out from under its hood.

As Ranma’s fingers worked their magic, he pulled his lips away from hers to brush them along the side of her mouth, along her cheek, down her throat, following the earlier path of his fingers, and Kasumi gasped, jerking slightly as his lips circled a nipple and he gently sucked. “Liked that, did ya?” he asked, then shifted to her other mound to repeat his attentions.

“Oh my, yes!” she gasped out enthusiastically as her hands roamed over his back and shoulders, stroking. “I never dreamed — so much better — ah!!!” she shouted as a finger toying with her folds pushed its way up inside her even as his thumb again stroked her clit.

Ranma chuckled with delight at the incoherent sounds bubbling from the brown-haired girl, then resumed his slow journey down her body. He paused for as moment to tongue at her belly button even as his finger continued to explore her sheath, then on until she again jerked, thrusting her hips upward as his lips captured her clit.

After a moment Ranma pulled away to Kasumi’s mew of protest, only to shift around to spread Kasumi’s legs up and wide. Settling down between them, he wrapped his arms around her thighs and across her stomach to hold her steady as his mouth came down over her cleft and he eagerly sucked and licked at her flowing juices, savoring the differences in taste between her and Akane, before thrusting his tongue as deep into his partner’s sheath as it could reach.

Kasumi found herself clutching at her bedsheets, body writhing and only Ranma’s grip holding her in place enough for him to continue. A neverending stream of moans, gasps, and babbled compliments and demands issued from her mouth at a steadily rising volume as the pleasure from the boy’s attentions thundered through her. Suddenly that pleasure flashed into an explosion and she bucked, actually rolling herself and Ranma onto their sides as her babbled nonsense turned into a scream. As with Akane the previous night, Ranma found himself fighting to resist the tide of now-familiar energy smashing against him as Kasumi shuddered from the waves of orgasmic pleasure washed through her until after what seemed like forever the tide receded and a sweatsoaked Kasumi collapsed limply along the bed.

Finally, Kasumi opened the eyes she found she’d closed as she drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “That was incredible, thank you,” she whispered as Ranma rolled her back onto her back and rose to sit back between her legs.

“Don’t thank me yet, we’re not done,” Ranma replied with a smirk. “I haven’t eaten yet, and you’re still a virgin. Unless you wanna stay that way ... ?”

Kasumi quickly shook her head. “No,” she replied, “I’m ready — I’ve been ready for years. And there’s no one I’d rather be my first.”

Ranma blushed. “In that case ...” He lay down along the Tendo sister’s side and gently stroked a slick breast. “Let’s give ya a minute then go fer round two.” Rolling over to partially cover her, he again sought her mouth with his. Kasumi eagerly spread her lips, savoring her taste as her tongue slipped around his mouth, along his lips, entangled itself with his tongue as their lips met. Thanks to her masturbation sessions she was familiar with the flavor of her own juices, but the taste was somehow more intense on another person with the aftershocks of her orgasm still echoing through her.

After minutes of gently making out, Ranma broke away. “Ya think you’re ready?” he asked, then grinned as Kasumi nodded eagerly. Rolling on top of her, he braced himself up on one elbow as his other hand reached down to guide his cock along between dripping folds. For a moment he ran his cockhead across her clit, his grin broadening as Kasumi squirmed at the touch, then slid it lower and slowly pushed in. Kasumi gasped as she felt her virgin sheath stretching to accommodate the intruder as it bumped up against her barrier. Ranma paused for a moment, luxuriating at the feel of the hot wet pressure encompassing his manhood for the second time, then slowly pressed forward and Kasumi mewed softly as she felt her hymen tear under the strain. Ranma instantly stopped at the sound. “Are you all right?” he asked anxiously.

Kasumi replied in a slightly strained voice, “Yes, it didn’t hurt much. How _big_ you are is more of a problem. Don’t stop, just ... take it slowly.”

Ranma nodded, then resumed his slow push until he was buried to the hilt, the soft touch of his pubic hair tickling Kasumi’s bare pubic mound and making her giggle. Reaching up, she pulled the younger boy down against her, pressing his chest against her full breasts. “Now that you’ve made me a woman, show me how it feels,” she murmured in his ear, then pressed her lips to his even as her widespread legs twisted to cross over the small of his back, encouraging him onward.

At this encouragement, Ranma began to pump his hips, taking it slow and easy as he remembered the first time she had used the two-headed strap-on dildo on Akane. For a time that was enough, as they resumed their tongue duel, but finally Kasumi shifted her legs to put her heels on his buttocks and squeezed. Breaking their kiss, she murmured, “Time to pick up the pace, lover, I’m not going to break.”

Ranma didn’t reply but he did pick up speed, and Kasumi moaned then resumed her incoherent commentary, her legs squeezing in time with his thrusts, as the heightened sensations radiating from the slick inner walls of her womanhood washed through her. She was beginning to writhe again, and the vague thought passed through her mind that the rough-mannered boy was a gentleman — lady, actually, most of the time now — when it mattered, the way he was bracing himself on his elbows, keeping most of his weight off her. The way his chest was brushing across her breasts with each thrust was icing on the cake, pushing the pleasure that seemed to fill every cranny of her body to overflowing even as it seemed to build constantly upward in intensity. Then that pressure again exploded, and for a moment her world whited out as pleasure became all she knew and it was all she could do to hold back a scream like the last time.

Ranma had been smiling as he gazed down at the unseeing, sweat-runneled face of his partner, her mouth gaping slightly as she sucked in air, even as he’d continued pistoning into her depths with slowly increasing speed and strength. Then it was his turn to gasp as suddenly the hands that had been stroking and clawing at his back yanked him down against her even as her legs squeezed, pushing him into her sheath as far as he could go, her inner walls clamping their hot wetness down around his rod — and another wave of the energy he craved washed over him. This time he struggled to open the barrier holding it back just a crack, letting in only enough to satisfy his deepest hunger. He was so focused on the fight to take only a little of what Kasumi’s orgasm had offered that he didn’t even notice as his manhood grew even harder and pumped spurt after spurt of milky fluid into the woman underneath him.

Finally, the two lovers slowly again became aware of the world around them. “Uhm, Ranma? You’re a little heavy,” the eldest Tendo managed to gasp out from under Ranma’s full weight.

“Oh, sorry,” Ranma muttered, rolling off the brown-haired woman and onto his back to stare at the ceiling, his softening cock popping free from her cleft and bringing a string of milky fluid with it.

The pair simply lay there sucking in breath after breath for a few minutes as they recovered, then a satiated Kasumi sat up and stretched with a reluctant sigh. “Oh, my, look at the time! This was wonderful, Ranma — _you_ were wonderful, I’ll never forget this, thank you so much — but you should probably be getting back to Akane before she loses control and comes down the hallway to hammer on the door. Waiting for us to finish could not have been easy for her.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Ranma agreed. “She’s a little ... possessive.” He sat up, his eyes again running appreciatively over the nude body on display, then stiffened when his eyes reached Kasumi’s groin and focused on the string of white liquid running from her wet-shiny, engorged folds over her thigh to slowly drip down onto the bedsheet. “Woah, didn’t expect that!” he breathed. “Didn’t think I could _do_ that anymore!”

Kasumi’s eyes followed his gaze, widening at the sight. “I didn’t, either. Nabiki didn’t say anything,” she said slowly. “I wonder if you can still get a woman pregnant?”

“I dunno. Kasumi, I’m sorry, I didn’t’ mean ta —”

“Hush, it’s as much my fault as yours,” Kasumi broke in to say, then paused in thought for a moment. “Even if you aren’t sterile, I’m not likely to get pregnant, not with the timing the way it is,” she finally said. “But if you aren’t and I do, I’ll be happy to have your baby. Now go, Akane’s waiting!” She waved her hands in shooing motions, and Ranma laughed.

“Yes, ma’am!” he intoned, rising from the bed and walking toward the door. As he did he shrank, her pigtailed hair again going red, fur growing along her shoulders and down her back as her body’s curves formed. The last sight Kasumi had of her was her red-furred, spaded tip of her tail disappearing out the door.

The eldest Tendo rose to grab her robe, heading for the furo and a before-sleep cleaning, but paused at the sight of Ranma’s robe still draped over the stool. After a moment, she shook her head with a wry chuckle. _Oh, Ranma. I’ll just have to return that in the morning, with another lecture. Though why this one would take when others haven’t ..._

/\

Ranma was humming softly to herself as she stepped into her and Akane’s room, and her lover looked up from where she sat on their bed, now dressed in the panties and T-shirt she usually wore to bed now. “All done?” Akane asked with slightly forced cheerfulness as her eyes wandered across her lover’s naked sweat-shiny body.

“Yup, Kasumi had a _great_ time, I got fed, and I had fun. That was great!” Ranma caroled, spinning in place, her tail whipping around her.

Akane’s forced smile froze. “Great!” she managed to get out through a tightening throat. “Are you up to another round?”

Something in her voice finally got through Ranma’s delight and she sobered, looking at her lover’s stiff body. With a sigh, she walked over and sat down, pulling the raven-haired girl against her with one arm, waiting as Akane slowly relaxed with a sigh as an arm circled Ranma’s waist. “Actually, I think the better question is whether _you_ are,” the succubus replied. “You’re gonna hafta be the one that decides when we do and when we don’t, Akane — I think I’m _always_ gonna be ready for another round.”

“Oh,” Akane said in a tiny voice as she leaned her head on the smaller girl’s shoulder. After a moment, she asked, “Ranma — which do you prefer, sex as a girl or sex as a guy?”

“Well, I dunno —” Ranma started, then broke off as she felt the girl in her one-arm hug freeze. _Whoa, this is serious!_ After a moment, she said quietly, “I can’t really say — the first time with that guy last night I wasn’t really thinkin’ clearly. Then afterwards with you, ya were ... tired, worn out. Tonight was great, but ... Akane, it doesn’t matter. I gave ya my word, and I’m keepin’ it. I didn’t fall in love with ya ‘cause I wanted ta get laid, and I’m not leavin’ ya even if I find someone else is better in bed — who cares, he or she wouldn’t be you.”

Akane’s arm around Ranma’s waist tightened, then she turned slightly and pulled the redhead into her lap, arms squeezing Ranma against her shuddering body as she buried her face in the red fur covering the succubus’s shoulder. “You mean it?” she asked softly.

“Forever and always,” Ranma replied equally softly, gently returning the hug.

Slowly, Akane’s shivering eased and vanished and her grip loosened. Finally, she looked up with a smile and leaned in for a quick kiss. “Let’s go to sleep — just sleep,” she said. “It’s been a long day.”


	20. "So, tell me about yourself."

“Ranko, we’re here.”

Ranma jerked at Nabiki’s voice, looking around frantically for a moment before relaxing. She didn’t recognize the street, but she couldn’t see any immediate threats, either.

Nabiki chuckled at her companion’s reaction. “You know, _Ranko_ , I’ve seen you pretty out of it before but never this bad without the help of drugs or getting hit in the head. You’d better pay better attention when we head home, because I’m not bringing you out here myself again and you’ll need to know the way. Was the news that you have soul sight really that surprising?”

“I ... well ... yeah. I mean, why would a sex demon need ta see the shape of people’s souls?” Ranma asked bemusedly.

Nabiki shrugged. “Think of the job you’re going to be interviewing for,” she replied. “Lots of prostitutes are abused by their customers, even murdered sometimes. And for those succubae that aren’t professionals, there are going to be a lot of one night stands with the same dynamic. Knowing how good or bad someone is, and how, can go a long way toward telling you if you can safely climb into bed with them.”

Ranma looked at the mercenary Tendo skeptically. “Considerin’ how powerful a succubus can be, I don’t think that’s exactly a problem,” the redheaded girl rebutted.

“Let’s see if you still think that after you learn all the ways a guy can stick it in a girl,” Nabiki said seriously. “A lot of them leave the girl pretty vulnerable.”

“Whatever,” Ranma said nonchalantly as she looked over the building they were standing in front of. There was nothing about the four-story, block-length building that was out of the ordinary, to draw the eye. The first floor was even taken up by shops and fast food places. “This is it?” she asked in surprise.

“What, you don’t think a brothel is going to have big flashy lights, do you? They have other ways of advertising — the people that come here looking for your type of good time know where it is. Come on, the side entrance is this way.”

As Ranma followed Nabiki toward an unlabeled door between a clothing store apparently aimed at teenage girls and a hole in the wall ramen outlet, her soul sight kicked in and she again found herself looking at the translucent blacks, grays, and occasional white swirling about the older girl — a rather disturbing amount of black, now that the newborn succubus knew what it meant. “Nabiki, if ya knew I can see what people’s souls look like, why haven’t ya asked me ta describe yours?” Ranma asked.

Nabiki shrugged again as she opened the door to reveal a flight of narrow stairs leading upward. “I don’t need to ask, I know what I am,” she replied. “Now come on, Ayano-san is waiting.”

/\

The cute teenage girl in a maid’s uniform that had answered the door at the top of the stairs from the outside knocked on an office door. “Miura-sama, your guests are here,” she called.

“Thank you, Teruyo-chan, send them in,” an even high-alto voice replied. Teruyo opened the door and stepped aside, and Ranma and Nabiki walked in.

Ranma quickly glanced around, making a quick check as always for any surprise threats and not finding any. The office was Spartan — no windows, a half-full set of bookshelves with none of the knickknacks the female of the species seemed to favor, a watercolor print, a desk with a desktop computer, a docking station for a laptop, and a desk in the middle of the room with two wooden chairs in front of it. Rising from the office chair behind the desk was a small woman. Her hair had gone white with age and her eyes were surrounded by smile-lines. She was slightly overweight, but Ranma could see hints of muscles and her movements were smooth and sure.

“Nabiki, it’s good to see you again,” the woman said with a welcoming smile. “And is this the Saotome Ranko you called me about?”

“Yes, it is,” Nabiki replied, bowing. “Miura Ayano-san, this is Ranko.”

Ayano’s eyebrows rose at the lack of a last name, and she stepped out from behind the desk as Ranma bowed. “Strip,” the elderly woman said.

“What?” Ranma asked confusedly.

“Take your clothes off, let me get a look at you,” Ayano clarified.

Ranma gazed at the elderly woman for a moment and suddenly her soul sight was back again, mostly whites and light grays, a little shading into dark grays and a rare black. _Almost like Kasumi’s,_ she thought as she glanced at a suddenly expressionless (and much darker) Nabiki. With an effort the redhead forced the translucent shades to fade away, shrugged, and quickly ran her fingers down the fasteners of her Chinese-style shirt, shrugged it off (Nabiki caught it before it hit the floor and draped it over a chair), loosened and pulled down her pants along with her boxers (Ayano’s eyebrows going up again at Ranma’s choice of underwear), and leaned down to loosen the ties around her ankles and step free. Straightening, she gazed calmly at the madam, ignoring her faint blush.

Ayano walked around her, eyes running over the teenager’s smoothly muscled body. “Hmmm ... from the muscle tone definitely an athlete, rather small, very cute but not too young looking, especially with these,” — she reached out to heft one oversized breast, Ranma twitching when a thumb rubbed across a crinkling nipple — “good, even at your cutest you won’t be mistaken for a child.” Noticing Nabiki’s lifting eyebrow, Ayano added, “I don’t cater to pedophiles, Nabiki.”

Focusing back on Ranma, she gave the breast in her hand a slight squeeze. “Interesting, these are real — I thought at first that you’d been stupid enough to get implants while you were still growing. And firm enough you don’t really need a bra, except for heavy exercise.”

Releasing the breast, her hand dropped to run fingers through the bush of hair at Ranma’s crotch. “And your red hair doesn’t come out of a bottle,” she mused as her fingers slid lower. “Gaijin blood?”

“Not — eep! — not that I know of,” Ranma responded, twitching again and blushing furiously as Ayano’s fingers ran down one side of the outer edge of her nether lips and up the other, then brushed across the redhead’s nub beginning to poke out of its hood.

“I see.” Ayano stepped back and ran her eyes over Ranma’s nude body once more, then turned to return to her seat. “Get dressed and have a seat,” she said as she sat back down. As Ranma picked up her boxers and pants from off the floor and began slipping them on, Ayano asked, “You are starting your last year of high school?”

“No,” Ranma replied as she finished fastening her pants around her ankles and picked up her shirt from where it was draped over the chair. “I would be, but I’m dropping out.”

“I see,” Ayano replied, then sat and stared at the two teenagers for a time as Ranma finished doing up the fasteners on her shirt and sat next to Nabiki. Finally, the madam sighed. “Why?” she quietly asked.

Ranma and Nabiki exchanged confused glances. “ ‘Why’, what? Why am I droppin’ out a’ school?” the redhead asked. “High school doesn’t really leave much time fer workin’, even if it permitted it.”

“No, why are you doing this?” Ayano clarified. “I’ve seen a few girls stupid enough to think this would a glamorous life, the oh so romantic courtesans and geishas they’ve read about brought to life — they can actually get giddy. But from your reaction to my little examination, you don’t seem the type. And you haven’t been abused and are running from home, either.”

“My sister is pregnant,” Nabiki said quickly. “Our household expenses have been a bit high lately, and babies are expensive. I don’t want to cut into the college funds for me and Akane. Ranko’s agreed to help out.”

“And what is Akane to you?” Ayano asked Ranma, her gaze sharpening.

Ranma hesitated, then replied, “My lover.”

Ayano’s eyes widened. “And she’s okay with you selling yourself to support her?” she asked.

“She ... isn’t exactly happy about it, but she understands why. She’s goin’ along,” Ranma said carefully.

Ayano leaned back in her chair and gave Ranma a searching look before nodding. “All right, that’s remotely plausible. And I suppose I owe Nabiki a favor for the opportunity she gave me. Speaking of which ...” She glanced over at the other girl. “Were you able to come up with someone to replace you, now that you’re moving on to college?”

Nabiki shook her head. “No, there’s no one who both has the brains to keep it up without getting caught and that you could trust.”

“Damn,” Ayano muttered, “being able to give those girls a decent first experience and pass on some safety tips for the ones stupid enough to keep it up was nice. The money wasn’t bad, either. Anyway,” she continued, straightening in her chair and turning back to Ranma, “Ranko, has Nabiki told you anything about my setup?”

“Just that ya specialize in teenagers an’ cosplay,” Ranma replied.

“That’s true, but far from the full story. I specialize in girls that have run away from home, or have been thrown out by their parents, and are living on the streets — the girls that are almost certain to end up selling themselves, anyway. I give them a choice between working as servants for room and board and a little extra spending money or as prostitutes for a larger weekly stipend with much more invested. If they choose to become prostitutes they get protection from abusive clients and good medical care plus the earnings I mentioned. When the girls turn twenty, they’re on their own to make room for more street kids, though I do try to steer them toward job opportunities, and college for the ones with enough savings.

“Normally, the girls all sleep here in dorms I’ve set up, you’d be the only girl commuting. Also, I’ve made arrangements with a local school. You don’t need to attend classes, but you _do_ need to study and pass tests — any test you fail means less time earning money and more time studying. For work, you can refuse particular acts, but must do so generally, for all clients. Nor can you refuse a particular client — any man that is acceptable as a client has the choice of all the available girls. So, Ranko, is this acceptable?”

Ranma and Nabiki exchanged glances and Nabiki gave a discreet nod. “Sure, that’ll be fine,” Ranma said.

Ayano gazed at the two for a moment longer, then nodded. “All right, did Nabiki mention the nightly training for the next week?” At Ranma’s nod, she continued, “It starts tonight at eight o’clock, but you need to be here a few hours earlier than that so the doctor I retain can examine you — not that you need it, from the looks of you, but that’s the routine — and have you measured so we’ll know which costumes will fit and which new ones we need to make. So be here at six.”

As Ranma nodded again, there was a knock on the door. “Miura-sama, I’m sorry to bother you, but Hisamatsu-san is here to see you.”

Ayano glanced at the clock. “He’s early,” she murmured, then raising her voice continued, “Thank you, Teruyo-chan, please escort him to the Blue Room, I’ll be right there.” Turning to the two teenagers with her, she said, “It looks like I’ll have to cut this short and finish it later.”

Ranma and Nabiki rose, and Ranma bowed. “Thank you for accepting me,” she said as she would have for a sensei accepting her as a student.

Ayano snorted softly. “Don’t thank me until you’ve been trained and working for a week. Oh, Nabiki,” she added, waving the girl toward her as the teens turned toward the door. When Nabiki stepped up to her, the madam murmured too low for Ranma to hear, “If I find out you blackmailed Ranko to get her to do this, you _will_ regret it. Clear?” Nabiki simply nodded and rejoined a curious Ranma by the door and the two left.

Ayano returned to sit behind her desk, reflecting for a moment on the just-finished interview. She didn’t doubt that what she’d been told was true enough, and it did make sense — women had been selling themselves to feed their children, and sometimes those of other women, for all of human history. But she couldn’t escape the feeling that there was something more going on. Finally, she shrugged to herself, picked up the phone and quickly typed in a number. “Isoruko-kun, hello ...” ... “Yes, I’m doing fine, thank you. I don’t have time to talk long, I have someone waiting for me. I’m calling about the new recruit I spoke to you about yesterday.” ... “Yes, I’m taking her on.” ... “No, she isn’t a glamour-struck fool like I thought she might be, but she isn’t one of the broken-winged sparrows, either — this one is going to be different for you. Anyway, her training starts tonight, at the usual time.” ... “Of course, I always have time to gossip afterwards, I’ll look forward to it.”

/oOo\

Ranma and Nabiki walked toward the train station in silence, the younger girl paying more attention to her surroundings this time. Finally, Ranma asked nonchalantly, “Do you think Ayano-san is like that with all the girls she recruits?”

“You mean the inspection?” Nabiki asked, and shrugged at Ranma’s nod. “I don’t know — she wasn’t with me, but I was a one shot.” Thinking about it for a moment, she added, “I doubt it, considering that most of her girls start out as abused, scared, or both — just off the streets. I think she was testing you. So, were you okay with it, getting groped by a stranger?”

“Yeah, I was,” the redhead said thoughtfully. “Kinda excited, actually. I think I’m lookin’ forward ta the job.” _And it helped that Ayano-san had so much white in her soul, almost as much as Kasumi,_ she added silently to herself.

“Should I mention that to Akane?”Nabiki asked, grinning sardonically, then laughed when her companion blanched and began to stutter a denial. “You’re too easy, Ranma. Relax, I won’t mention it — I wouldn’t be able to hear myself for all the shouting, and I need the peace for planning for college.”

“Ya aren’t gonna demand a cut a’ my earnings? Are ya sure you’re feelin’ all right?” Ranma asked suspiciously.

Nabiki waved off the redhead’s wary glare. “I told you, Ranma, Akane’s happiness is important to me, I’m not going to mess it up.” _Besides, there’s another way I can get a cut,_ she thought, suppressing a smirk as the two girls boarded the trains and found a pair of seats . Leaning back, the middle Tendo closed her eyes in contemplation. _Let’s see, how long should I wait before I sell Kuno the location of your new job? You won’t actually be available for at least a week, but he usually drops by around once every couple of months looking for redheads...._


	21. A Three-Stranded Cord

Ku Lon hobbled out of the Nyucheizu Council House, Ru Yan visibly restraining herself from offering support from where she walked beside the ancient Elder. Slowly, the pair made their way to Ku Lon’s home, and Ku Lon sighed with relief as she sank down beside her table while Ru Yan busied herself with making tea for both of them. Ku Lon had long mastered control of her ki, and so had a level of endurance that would stun any trained soldier in the world, but she was also an ancient woman and the race to arrive back at Nyucheizu well ahead of her two fellow Elders from the fiasco in Nerima had been brutal. Still, she had accomplished her purpose. Arriving and presenting her view on the creation of Alanya’s Champion, a Godkiller that knew about the disrespect the Council had shown her, to the Council in only five days had been a journey for the legends, resulted in at least as great a disgrace of her enemies and strengthening of her shaky position as she had hoped — and accomplished precisely nothing of consequence.

“I thought that went very well,” Ry Yan commented as she poured tea and offered it to Ku Lon before filling her own cup. Waiting until her elder first sampled the tea, she sipped from her own cup then placed it back on its saucer. “But you don’t agree.”

Ku Lon took a sip, thinking over what her heir had told her of how things stood in Nerima during the one phone call the Elder had made during her journey. Putting her own tea cup down, she sighed. “No, I don’t,” she said heavily, shoulders slumping. I was hoping that the possible disaster the Council’s politicking might have visited upon us if Ranma had killed someone in her first need would shake at least _some_ of those tradition-ridden navel-gazers out of their dreamworld, but there wasn’t a hint of it. No, today was a great victory, if all you care about is one-upping our Council rivals with nary a care for the world beyond the lands we hold — but those ... those ...” Straightening, she softly snarled, “Those idiots have had their head so far up their asses for so long they’ve forgotten they ever knew what things look like in the light if day!”

Ru Yan blanched at the insult, instinctively glancing around to see if anyone was close enough to hear. Finding they were still alone, she shot her Elder a quelling look, then gave out a sigh of her own. “So, what do we do about it?”

Minute after minute passed as Ku Lon sat and stared into her cooling tea. Finally she straightened to look her companion in the eye. “Nyucheizu is finished,” she said firmly. “The Council will go on playing its games, both internally and with the Musk, until the mandarins in Beijing roll over them and us and sweep what’s left into the dustbin of history. Since we cannot save it, we must salvage what we can. Have you completed the copies of our records as the Council requested?”

“I ... almost, yes, another month or so should do it, but ... you are thinking of leaving? Where will we go?”

“Yes,” Ku Lon said heavily. “There is no peace to be had with the mandarins except as slaves in all but name, we cannot fight them, so we will have to go elsewhere. As for where, Japan. I don’t know if Nerima can hold us, hopefully we’ll be joined by enough to make that difficult, but I’m sure there are other places in the islands that can make room.”

“But, even if we do get a decent number of warriors to join us, how will we move the records? It took years to duplicate them all, and the Council ordered them as backups in case something happened to the village ... at your suggestion, now that I think about it,” Ru Yan added in dawning realization. “Were you thinking about this all the way back then?”

“Yes, I was, to an extent,” Ku Lon admitted. “I have been trying to shake the Council out of its stupor for decades, but it was only at that time that I finally admitted that I might fail. Then Ranma and the Panda showed up, and you know the rest.

“As for how we move the records, we have at least one person to help. Isn’t that right, Part Timer?” she called out, then chuckled at the startled quack from the next room, and the sound of wings flapping. “With Mu Tse and others that have mastered Weapon Space, we should be able to move them all.

“And now,” Ku Lon added as she wearily climbed to her feet, “This old woman needs a rest. Don’t ever tell anyone I said so, but that was a _very_ hard trip.”

/\

The tiny form of a split-off Chibi-Mara slipped away from the house, being _very_ careful to maintain her invisibility even as she slipped from bush to shrub as she made her careful way out of the village — the Elders that ruled this backwater may have been self-centered stick-in-the-muds, but they were impressively skilled when it came to noticing what was going on about them. It had taken less than a day after her assigned watchers had arrived for them to be detected three times and get the entire village in an uproar, and she’d quickly ordered them to pull back and just keep an eye out for any unusual departures or arrivals. _I’ll have to remember to an up-note in Terik’s’s file when I get back to Niflheim,_ the tiny blonde demon thought to herself as she carefully made her way out of the village. _Calling me in for the arrival of one old woman and a duck took guts, but it paid off._ So, now she had a name and a place — Ranma and Nerima.

/oOo\

Akane eagerly trotted up the stairs to Sayuri’s apartment — her friend’s parents were spending the night together at one of the local love motels, and apparently Sayuri’s mother had oh so casually mentioned to her that it would be a good opportunity for a sleepover with her friends. Akane wasn’t sure just why Sayuri and Yuka had chosen to invite her as well (though she was _really_ hoping it wasn’t a repeat of the time they’d chosen to prank her by quietly making love after the lights went out), but she had been _very_ happy to get the invitation — it had been three days since Ranma had started training, and the tension in the household was getting thick enough to cut with a knife. _Not to mention that it’s two nights_ after _Nabiki had to provide Ranma’s ‘dinner’,_ Akane thought with a vicious grin. _And tomorrow I can pretend I missed her hints about recruiting one of my friends as a milk cow, so since Kasumi’s worried about hurting the baby and Ranma turned down Ukyo,_ — the raven-haired girl’s grin turned triumphant— _Nabiki will just have to go through with it once more before the ‘training’ is finished._

Then she was knocking on the apartment door, and a short shorts and T-shirt-clad Sayuri opened it. “Akane, good to see you, finally!” the brown-haired girl enthused, waving her friend inside and closing the door behind her as she looked Akane over in her own short shorts and tight T-shirt. “Looking good, girl!” she added with a melodramatic leer.

A similarly dressed Yuka waved from where she was sitting at a Western-style dining table as Akane exchanged her outdoor shoes for slippers. “So the lovebird finally shows her face!” she called out with a wistful, envious smile. “How’s life as a honeymooner?”

“It’s ... it’s been ...” Akane broke off as her voice wavered, and breaking into tears she suddenly wailed, “It’s not fair! Ranma was supposed to be mine!”

Her two friends exchanged startled glances, then Yuka was rising from her seat as Sayuri put an arm around the crying girl’s shoulder and steered her toward the couch. Akane sat down and the other two settled on each side of her. “Come on, Akane, tell Auntie Yuka and Auntie Sayuri all about it,” Yuka soothed as Sayuri took Akane’s hand in hers.

/\

“ ... and now _he’s_ made love to Kasumi, and Nabiki’s up to something, I know it, and Shampoo’s _living_ at the dojo while Cologne’s in China, and Ranma’s fucking guys every night, she’s off ‘training’ right now and she tries to hide it but she _likes_ it, and ... and ... and it’s all ruined!”

Sayuri glanced across her sobbing friend at her glassy-eyed lover (still in shock from Akane’s announcement that she was pregnant), then pulled Akane into her lap and put one hand around her waist while gently pressing the raven-haired girl’s head against her shoulder with the other. “Wow ... I don’t know what to say ...” she said hesitantly. “When the kami decide to mess with you guys they don’t do it by half. But ... it isn’t like Ranma has a choice, right?”

Sayuri felt Akane’s hair brush against her neck as the other girl shook her head. “No ... no, this time it isn’t the Baka’s fault, she’d have had to kill Shampoo if she hadn’t, or ruin her life and she couldn’t do that and be the girl I love,” she mumbled, and hiccupped. “It’s just ... I had dreams of her and me, and a normal life with the other girls out of the picture, and now ...” Her voice trailed off and Yuka shook herself out of her shock and slid over to rub her back.

“I don’t think Ranma will ever do ‘normal’,” Yuka said softly. “Are you going to convert over after the baby’s born?”

Akane sighed at the massage and slowly relaxed. “I haven’t told her yet, but yes, I will, eventually. The thought of screwing guys makes me sick to my stomach, but the thought of growing old while Ranma doesn’t is worse. I just ... I wish ...”

“You wish it was just you and Ranma, instead of you and Ranma and all the people she has to sleep with now just to survive,” Sayuri finished, and Akane nodded.

Yuka gazed thoughtfully at the back of her friend’s head as she continued to gently rub her back and shoulders, then leaned over to whisper in Sayuri’s ear. Her lover looked startled for a moment, then thoughtful for several minutes before nodding. Yuka softly said, “Akane, you know ... it isn’t really fair to expect you to stick to Ranma when she’s sleeping around so much — even if it’s only because she has to.” Akane shot upright, twisting around in Sayuri’s lap to glare at her friend in shocked outrage, and Yuka hastily rose and stepped back. “I’m not suggesting you try to match her, but maybe you’ll feel better if you balance the scales a little? Sayuri and I are willing and I don’t think Ranma will mind ...” Her voice trailed off, as Akane’s outraged look faded into confused thoughtfulness and she blushed as red as Ranma’s hair, startling a laugh from Sayuri.

“What are you getting all embarrassed about?” Sayuri gently teased. “I mean, it’s been a few years but it wouldn’t be the first time you spent some ‘quality time’ with us, and you and Ranma have been going at it like rabbits for weeks!”

Akane mumbled something too low and indistinct for the other girls to make out. “What was that?” Sayuri prodded.

“I said, ‘Ranma suggested the same thing’,” Akane repeated clearly. “When I told her why I wouldn’t be home when she got back from ‘training’“ — her mouth twisted in disgust for a moment — “she suggested I ‘love the ones I’m with’. I ... uhm ... I thought she was making a crude joke and lost my temper. Then when it seemed like she was actually _happy_ I was upset, I _really_ got mad and ...” Her voice lowered and her eyes dropped, her blush actually intensifying. “... and chased her out of the house with my hammer. She was laughing all the way.”

“Sounds like someone’s happy to have the old Akane back,” Yuka said with an uncertain smile as she settled back down on the couch beside her lover and friend. “And do you still think she was joking?”

Akane stared at the girl she’d known all her life, her friend’s questioning gaze framed by her light brown hair spilling loose down past her shoulders, then the raven-haired girl was twisting in Sayuri’s lap to straddle her friend on the couch and hungrily pressing her lips to her friend’s as a hand slipped up to cup Sayuri’s head beneath her ponytail. For a moment Sayuri was caught by surprise, but then she was eagerly responding, lips parting and tongue sliding out to push its way past Akane’s lips into her warm mouth.

Yuka rose to kneel behind Akane, slipping her hands underneath Akane’s T-shirt and running them up her tightly-muscled sides, lifting the T-shirt with them. “I would say that’s a no,” she whispered huskily as her fingers sought out the clasp to Akane’s bra, then the bra was kept on only by its shoulder straps and Yuka eagerly slid her hands between her friend’s and lover’s bodies and Akane moaned into Sayuri’s mouth as they clasped her pert mounds.

Feeling Yuka’s hands slip between Akane’s breasts and her own, Sayuri reluctantly reached up with both hands to pull Akane’s head away, a slight string of spit momentarily connecting their lips. Let’s take this down to the floor where there’s more room,” she murmured. “But first ...” She grasped the sides of Akane’s T-shirt and pulled up, Akane lifted her arms, and a moment later Sayuri tossed the shirt aside as Yuka released Akane’s breasts to slide her bras straps off her shoulders and Akane’s bra followed her shirt.

Yuka rose to her feet and stepped back, and Akane eagerly rose off Sayuri’s lap and lay down. She smiled up as her friends’ eyes lit up as they roamed over her topless figure. Then Yuka was swooping down to slip fingers inside the sides of Akane’s shorts and panties and pull them down her legs and off. Akane spread her legs and Yuka crouched between them to spread her friend’s rapidly dampening folds with her thumbs. She admired the view for a long moment, before leaning down and Akane sucked in a breath as Yuka’s mouth covered her cleft, eager tongue slipping between her folds and up inside her as far as it could reach and her nose tickling among the tiny curls of Akane’s trimmed patch. “Oh, yes, that feels so good!” Akane gasped as she reached up to tug at her own pleasure-tightening nipples.

Sayuri pulled her own T-shirt off over her head, unhooked and slid off her own lacy bra, then slid her shorts and string panties down her legs and stepped out of them, kicking the garments to the side. She struck a pose for a moment for Akane’s appreciative gaze, then as her friend’s eyes started glazing over in pleasure at Yuka’s attentions, she straddled Akane’s heaving chest with her back to Yuka and lowered herself to place her own vagina over Akane’s mouth, shivering at the feel of hot breath gusting onto her own wet cleft.

Akane’s nose twitched at the familiar scent wafting from Sayuri’s vagina, and she released her nipples to grasp Sayuri’s legs by the upper thighs and lifted her head and now it was Sayuri’s turn to let out a long “Aaaaah!” as Akane’s tongue went to work.

Yuka smiled at the sound and redoubled her efforts as she found Akane’s engorged nub with a thumb, and Akane shrieked into her mouthful as her hips bucked. Yuka slid her arms around Akane’s legs to hold herself in place, replacing her thumb with her tongue, and Akane began to writhe. Her head fell back, and Sayuri smiled down at her friend’s flushed, gasping face as she massaged her own breasts. Then Akane let out a shout, back arcing off the floor as an orgasm slammed through her, then another wave, and another.

Finally, she slumped back to the floor, eyes closed and gasping for breath. Sayuri waited for a few moments, then without a word reached down to gently lift Akane’s head back up to her now dripping folds. Akane opened her eyes to look up at her ponytailed friend, smiled against her friends cleft, then resumed her attentions. After riding out the orgasm Yuka had risen to kneel between Akane’s legs, and now she slid forward to press her still-clothed body against her lover’s back and lipped at an ear. She slid her hands around Sayuri’s stomach and up to her heaving breasts as she felt her lover’s hips push against her as they began to undulate against Akane’s eager mouth. Finally, Sayuri stiffened, her head pressing back against Yuka’s shoulder, and Akane eager lapped at the juices that gushed out to coat her face.

Finally, the ponytailed girl fell forward onto her hands and rolled to the side onto her back as Yuka slid back, leaving a glistening trail along Akane’s stomach. “Wow!” Sayuri gasped out. “Akane, you’d never know you spent the last two years living like a nun!”

“She and Ranma have been making up for lost time,” Yuka chuckled as she rose from where she straddled Akane’s stomach to slip out of her own now soaked shorts and panties to reveal her own clean-shaved glistening mound, then pulled her T-shirt up and off. As she unhooked her bra, she remarked, “I think it’s my turn. Or do you two want to eat something and take some time to recover your strength? Whichever is fine by me, we have all night.”


	22. Shortstopped

In the early light of dawn, Akane quietly let herself into her home and exchanged her shoes for slippers, stifling a yawn. Between the sex and just talking while resting up for the next round, she and her two best friends hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. When it came time to clean up (and erase evidence, at least enough to allow Sayuri’s father to continue to ignore his daughter’s ... lifestyle), after they were done she’d decided to simply head home and sleep it off in her own bed.

Slipping out into the hallway, she listened for a moment and smiled at the sound of her oldest sister in the family room. She tiptoed up the stairs, and down the hall to the room she shared with Ranma, careful to avoid the spots that creaked — not that she was worried about disturbing anyone, Nabiki wasn’t exactly a morning person and her lover _definitely_ wasn’t a light sleeper.

Stripping off the T-shirt and shorts she’d worn to the “sleepover,” Akane slipped on clean panties, then paused and gazed down at her sleeping lover, eyes lingering on the tiny horns on Ranma’s forehead before shifting to the bit of fur she could see on the redhead’s shoulder, feelings of guilt and vindication at war in her heart. _Stop it!_ she ordered herself sternly. _It was Ranma’s idea in the first place. And besides, why shouldn’t you take your pleasure where you find it? It’s what Ranma does, isn’t it?_

Ignoring the whisper in the back of her mind that, no, it _wasn’t_ the same, she slipped around to the other side of the bed, cautiously pulled back the blankets, and lay down to spoon up against her succubus. Reflecting again that it was a good thing they’d rearranged the room so that the side of the bed was away from the wall (though it was usually Ranma that snuggled up against her in the early morning hours, and the unfamiliar feel of Ranma’s strip of fur against her breasts and stomach tickled a little), she pulled the blankets over the both of them, and instantly faded off the sleep.

/oOo\

Ranma lazily cracked her eyes and gazed at the bar of mid-morning light from the window that fell across the bed and onto the floor, smiling contentedly at the feel of a warm body pressed against her back and an arm draped around her chest under her breasts. Wait, warm body?

Eyes flying open, she twisted in the bed to find herself face to face with a sleeping Akane. With a sigh of relief, she slowly relaxed muscles gone suddenly tense — she didn’t think Nabiki or Kasumi would slip into bed with her, but Xian Pu was another matter, and if Akane had come home to find them like that the result would probably have been ... unpleasant. _Though perhaps not as unpleasant as it could be,_ the succubus thought to herself as her nose picked up the faint whiff of sex from the other girl. _Seems the Tomboy took my advice, after all._

The redhead slipped out of the bed and stretched, then gazed down for a time at her lover, red spade-tipped tail angrily flicking back and forth behind her, confused at the jealousy roiling inside her. _Come on, Ranma, what’s wrong with you?_ she thought as she turned away from the bed and headed for the door. _It was yer idea, after all. It’s not like ya can fuck strangers every night, and_ enjoy _it, and not let her have some fun on the side, too._ But as she headed for the dojo and her morning workout, at least as much as she could while limiting herself to purely physical techniques with no ki involved, something inside her was insisting that it _wasn’t_ the same.

/\

On the roof of the Tendo home, a carefully cloaked Mara sighed with relief as she sensed the only demon within the compound moving out of the room below her. When she had returned to Niflheim after her visit to Nyucheizu, she’d had no problem at all finding the significance of the names ‘Nerima’ and ‘Ranma’ — unfortunately. Ranma was just the type of mortal Asgard recruited, and she couldn’t understand why those slaves to Fate hadn’t in his case.

But he did have his weaknesses, and _finally_ , it was time to put her hasty plan in motion. From Ranma’s file, it was doubtful he ... she, now ... would simply accept help getting her heart’s desire (whatever it was at the moment), but she both had a strong noble streak and couldn’t resist a challenge. So call her out, slowly ramp up the fight until the untrained succubus had drawn heavily on her stored energy. Of course, Ranma was only an _earth_ demon, and so no sort of threat to a demon first class, but the cute redhead Mara had seen through the window wouldn’t know that (the demon pushed away thoughts of what she’d read about the fights with Herb and Saffron). Once Ranma was drained to the point that she was in danger of losing control and a threat to the humans she lived with, her heart’s desire was bound to shift to getting ‘fed’ without threatening anyone, and Mara could offer to help her out. Even though as a demon Mara herself couldn’t supply what was needed and so wouldn’t be servicing the needy succubus (unfortunate, that — she had been busy for awhile even before being handed the Alanya mess and could use some stress relief, and the sleeping redhead really _had_ been cute), she had more than a few men in the Tokyo area who owed her, and one of those favors could be called in. And she knew from personal experience that some of them were short-hitters, so there wasn’t any risk of Ranma accidentally killing one. And then Ranma would _owe_ her....

Rising to her feet, the blonde demon crossed over the peak of the roof and floated down to the lawn shared by the house and the dojo. Sensing Ranma coming toward her, she waited until she saw the succubus walking along the covered walkway leading to the dojo (completely naked, apparently Ranma didn’t have her new urges completely under control, yet). As the succubus disappeared inside the dojo, Mara stepped forward to follow her, then gasped as she felt another cloak drop behind her just enough to let her sense the presence of a goddess without alerting the newborn.

Spinning around, Mara found an unfortunately familiar goddess standing behind her: purple hair hanging straight to her shoulders, three small purple circles in an upside down triangle just above the bridge of her nose, a larger circle under each eye, none of the seeming tattoos detracting from her healthy attractiveness. At least, the lean, white body-suited goddess would be attractive if she were smiling, instead gazing sternly at the blonde demon while holding her axe-bladed polearm at the ready slanted across her body with both hands.

“Nah-ah-ah!” Mara taunted, wagging a finger at the goddess. “You might as well put that away, Lind, you know you can’t kill me.”

“No, but I _can_ hurt you,” Lind replied calmly, though she did release her grip with one hand, bracing the butt of her polearm on the ground.

Mara carefully didn’t reveal her relief at the goddess’s change of posture — a false relief, she knew, the valkyrie was just as capable of abruptly chopping her into dogmeat from her relaxed posture as her previous one. The change was simply a show of intention, rather than a reduction of capability. “I must say I’m a little surprised to find you here,” she said with studied nonchalance. “I would have thought it would be Belldandy or Urd, given Ranma’s history and new nature.”

Lind shrugged. “Normally, you’d be right. But considering how many of your problems would just go away if Ranma just happened to die, it was decided that I’d be the better emissary ... just to make sure there weren’t any ‘accidents’.”

_Not to mention how your dedication to both service and the martial arts would appeal to the self-image Ranma’s carried over from her previous incarnation,_ Mara thought, suppressing a grimace — though she hadn’t considered the possibility, she had to admit that the choice of the driven valkyrie had been an inspired one. “And just what is your role as bodyguard, excuse me, emissary?” she asked.

Lind shrugged again. “Simply to make certain that Ranma knows the possible consequences — the _full_ possible consequences — if she were to accept any favor you offered her,” she replied, matching Mara’s show of nonchalance.

Mara gazed at the valkyrie for a long moment, mind racing. Her only chance of getting Ranma to accept her offer of a favor was if the newborn succubus leapt before she looked, and with Lind there to add the voice of caution, possibly even offer alternatives, that possibility had vanished. Certainly, she could still go through with her plan, but when Ranma turned her down the succubus would have to either risk killing some man or converting some woman into a succubus, and in either case she was unlikely to just forgive and forget. If anything, she would be even more driven to overthrow her avatar’s mistress than she was already.

_And there’s no chance that you’ll be able to slip in later and meet Ranma without them intervening, either — Asgard is taking this a lot more seriously than we’d expected,_ she thought with well-hidden disgust. Mara shrugged, and managed a light-hearted tone. “Well, if you’re going to crash the party, I’m going to take my ball and go home. See you around.” She floated up and away, mind running down the list of lesser demons that owed her favors, considering which she should assign to watch the newborn. While she would have preferred her own direct observations rather than depend on another demon’s second-hand report, she needed to give Ranma’s file more attention than the cursory once-through that she’d had time for before arriving at the Tendo compound at dawn. As well, she needed to review her assets in the Tokyo area, consider which might be of use.

/\

Lind chuckled softly, a rare smile on her face as she watched Hild’s disappointed lieutenant fly away. “Yes, Mara, I’m sure we’ll meet again before this is over. Perhaps we’ll even have a chance to dance.” Once Mara vanished from sight, Lind again strengthened her cloak to the point that it would be the rare demon indeed that could detect her presence, then floated up to the roof of the dojo, alert for the coming of the watchers she was sure would soon arrive.


	23. The New Friendly Rival

Ryoga stumbled slightly with weariness as he walked through the gate, his heavy backpack unbalancing him, then stretched and yawned as he looked around. It had been a long day’s hike — at least, he assumed it had been a day, the sun had done its usual random dance across the sky as he walked, sometimes bouncing right out of it entirely to be replaced by starry night — and it was time to find a place to set up camp.

Then again maybe he wouldn’t have to, seeing how he was staring across a lawn at the side of the Tendo home. And yes, that was the dojo on his left (at least, he _thought_ it was his left) — and from the sounds coming out of it, someone was training. Ryoga listened for a few minutes, a grin growing across his face. From the pattern and locations of the sounds, it had to be Ranma — Akane didn’t bounce off the walls and roof like a ping-pong ball when she practiced. So, a chance to spar with Ranma, get cleaned up in the furo and a few hours sleep, and maybe someone would have the time to lead him to Akari’s farm — it was definitely turning out to be one of his better days.

Creeping along the side of the building to the corner, trailing a hand along the wall as he went, Ryoga found the door to the dojo. Slipping off his backpack, he unstrapped his umbrella, quietly pushed the door to the side, and charged through, umbrella at the ready in front of him. “Saotome Ranma, prepare — !”

Ryoga broke off his opening shout as he focused on the figure even now spinning to face him, his eyes widening at the brief glimpse of red fur running down her spine, the red spade-tipped tail whipping around her legs, the tiny horns on her forehead — the fact that she didn’t have a stitch of clothing on, and her defensive posture facing him was giving the Lost Boy a full frontal view of an incredibly attractive, full-breasted female body.

Ryoga’s charge ignobly ended as he collapsed unconscious face-forward onto the floor, blood running from his nose to pool about his face.

/\

Ranma winced internally as her landing from her latest bounce was slightly off-center, her feet slightly out of position, her knees flexing a bit more than they should have needed to as they absorbed the shock — she had _definitely_ lost a bit of her edge.

Part of it was the way she couldn’t get thoughts of the Tomboy out of her head. Her lover had been more relaxed and happy since having sex with her friends, but there was an _edge_ to it that Ranma didn’t understand. And the newborn succubus’s soul sight was still cutting in and out, and she’d noticed that some of the grays, even a few spots of black, were ... were _brighter_ somehow, and she had no idea what it meant. The answer was probably somewhere in the pile of scrolls Ku Lon had left behind, but Xian Pu and Nabiki were still translating them, and Nabiki had suggested — strongly — that Ranma wait to read their efforts until they were finished, so that she’d have the entire picture available instead of bits and pieces subject to misunderstandings.

Another part was work. Tonight was her ‘final exam’. She’d pass easily, of course, just as she did learning any Art, and Miura-sama had told her that online advance reservations had filled up her nights for the next few weeks. That would mean she’d finally have all the energy she needed to explore her new capabilities — but school started next week for Akane and she had no idea how they were going to coordinate training, schoolwork and fun time with Akane’s mornings and early afternoons taken up by school and Ranma’s late afternoons to early nights taken up by work.

And the fathers were due back any day and her mo — Nodoka hadn’t called or visited yet....

But as much as the redhead would have liked to, she couldn’t blame her clumsiness purely on relationship worries. Not having anyone close to her level to spar with over the past almost four weeks since the fathers had been hauled off by Happosai wasn’t helping. She’d had a few spars with Xian Pu, but Akane didn’t take them very well, and by now Ranma knew the Amazon’s style too well — during her time at the Cat Café Xian Pu may have been practicing her Art, but she hadn’t really been _studying_ it, adjusting it to counter the fighters she’d met (Ranma reflected that she was going to have to do something about that, now that they were battler sisters). And besides, Xian Pu wasn’t really in Ryoga’s league —

“Saotome Ranma, prepare — !” Ranma spun at the familiar shout, grinning. Ryoga, great! She _really_ needed to see what her new body was capable of, and nobody fit the bill better than Pork Breath.

Facing her years-long rival, she opened her mouth for her opening taunt — and froze as the fanged boy charging through the doorway into the dojo dove face first into the floor. _What the hell?_ the succubus thought, shocked at the sight. Ryoga was the toughest guy she knew, what could have — ? Then she noticed the blood pooling about his face, and glanced down at her naked form — or at least, the tops of her bare breasts. _Oh. Right._

Sighing, the once again proven devastatingly cute — if inhuman — redhaired (and -furred) demon headed for the house. At the least, she was going to need a robe.

/\

The Lost Boy stirred as consciousness slowly returned. What had happened? Let’s see, he’d found himself in the Tendo compound, he’d heard Ranma practicing in the dojo, he’d charged in to take his rival by surprise, and then — hastily, the Lost Boy pushed the image of ‘and then’ out of his mind.

Raising his head out of the small pool of blood, he glanced quickly around, slightly out of focus eyes passing across the red-haired whatever-it-was leaning nonchalantly against the dojo wall ... thankfully, now apparently dressed. He tacked back and focused his eyes on the gi-clad form, and stiffened. The female figure was definitely inhuman ... not many people with horn buds and a spade-tipped tail extending down to flick back and forth ... but it was also unmistakably Ranma.

“Okay, Ranma, what did you do _this_ time?” Ryoga growled as he pushed himself to his feet.

Ranma rolled her eyes. “Yeah, _of course_ it’s something I did, who else?” Straightening, she shrugged. “I’d tell ya, but we just finished fixin’ up the dojo from the last time ya dropped by, and money’s tight right now. So instead, you’re gonna follow me inta the house and _Kasumi an’ Akane_ ’s gonna tell ya. Come on.”

/\

Akane finished her tale of the four weeks since the wedding fiasco (leaving out a few details, like her lover’s new dietary needs), and Ryoga sat in stunned silence, ignoring his rival, former prospective girlfriend, and the matronly Tendo, as he had since Akane’s admission of her true gender preferences. He really wanted to blame this on Ranma, he really did, but he just couldn’t see _how_ this time. Blame Akane’s preferences on some kind of mind control? It would have to predate Ranma even meeting her — nice trick, if Ryoga could just figure out a way to make it work. Ranma using his girl form to convince Akane to pick him? Yeah, right, not even the Lost Boy could wrap his head around _that_ one, as macho as Ranma was, not with the kind of relationship Akane would want. And then the whole ‘use an Amazon ceremony to get Shampoo off his back and turn into a demon’ thing — Ryoga just couldn’t figure out how that could fit into some deep, dark plan from Ranma’s twisty mind.

Finally, he shook his head and growled, “I’m sure this has to be your fault somehow, Ranma!” But even he could hear the uncertainty in his voice, and Ranma just grinned.

“Yeah, ya just keep tellin’ yerself that. When ya figure out how, ya let me know. In the meantime, _P-chan_ , how ‘bout a spar while Kasumi makes somethin’ fer ya?”

“Like that?” Ryoga asked, looking Ranma up and down before his eyes were caught by the motion of Ranma’s suddenly lashing tail.

“Yeah, like this, it’s the body I got,” Ranma replied, grinning. “And it’s not like I didn’t kick yer ass when I was like this an’ human.”

“Well, at least you actually got something on this time instead of cheating, but it isn’t likely to _stay_ on.”

“Hey, ya use what ya got, not that it worked too well on you. What’s wrong, not interested in girls?”

As Ryoga sputtered at the aspersion of his manhood, Ranma’s grin turned evil. “But now that ya mention it, I might as well save time, so ...” Quickly undoing the belt and the gi’s ties, she shrugged to let the top slip off her shoulders and down along her arms to drop to the floor. Accompanied by a soft “Oh, my!” from Kasumi, she slipped out of the pants and strode naked toward the door, tail swishing back and forth. “Come on, Ryoga, let’s do it, if you’re man enough!” she called over her shoulder.

As a blushing but grimly determined Ryoga hitched up his backpack, picked up his umbrella, and followed his rival toward the dojo (firmly keeping his eyes on the red ‘V’ of fur centered on Ranma’s spine and off her tight backside), Akane glanced at Kasumi and rolled her eyes. “You know, I’d _really_ like to be able to blame that on Ranma’s new nature, but I can’t,” she murmured.

A beet-red Kasumi sighed as she bent to pick up Ranma’s discarded clothing. “True, Ranma _has_ always been lacking in modesty. Oh, well, it means I won’t have to repair the gi I fixed up for her.”

Grinning, Akane replied, “Not much chance of that, the way Ranma prefers _not_ to dress these days, not that I’m complaining! I just have to wonder what’s going to happen when the fathers get home. Well, I suppose I’d better go and keep an eye on the two chest-thumpers — you’d think Ranma’s new body would have less testosterone.”

/\

Ranma grinned fiercely as she dropped beneath Ryoga’s swinging umbrella, rolled out of the way of his follow-up kick, and pushed off with her hands to bounce back and away from her opponent. Ryoga charged forward to keep contact, but Ranma bounced back again to the wall, pushed off toward the roof, and then back down behind the large boy.

But Ryoga was already turning, and Ranma was forced to hop back to avoid the umbrella’s thrusting ferule, again, then she slipped around a third thrust and slapped the umbrella to the side as she charged forward. Almost anyone else would have been knocked back and down by the fist that slammed into the rock-hard muscles of Ryoga’s abdomen, but he merely grunted as he dropped his umbrella and one arm twisted around Ranma’s as the other hand grabbed her tail right at its base, and then the succubus was spinning through the air to slam into a wall.

“Good one,” Ranma wheezed as she slid down the wall to the floor. “I forgot that the muscles in yer gut are as tough as the rock ya use for a head.”

But Ryoga merely smirked as he again scooped up his umbrella, finally inured to the constant taunts that were one of the hallmarks of Anything Goes. “You just go right on thinking that,” he growled, and charged.

Ranma rolled to her feet and raced to meet him, leaping on top of the thrusting umbrella. But that was an old tactic long familiar to the Lost Boy, and as he felt Ranma’s weight he threw his arm up, trying to throw Ranma through the ceiling — only to find a new element added as a red tail whipped down to encircle his neck. Ranma yelped in unexpected pain as her tail snapped tight, even as she spun at its end to hammer her fists into Ryoga’s back just to the side of his kidneys — it _was_ a spar, after all, not that Ranma’s delicacy helped Ryoga much as the shock of the blows shook his entire body even as they knocked him off his feet.

Ranma’s tail untwisted from around the neck of the collapsing teenager even as she used the momentum of the blows to spin in the air to land feet-first with her back to her opponent. She leaped away and spun to face Ryoga as soon as her feet hit the floor, arms raised to block any attack, only to freeze at the sight of her rival slowly rolling over with a groan. “Hey, you okay, buddy?” she asked, suddenly worried. She hadn’t hit him _that_ hard, had she?

Ryoga sat up, shaking his head and rubbing at his back. Looking up at the succubus (any reaction to her nude charms long since gone), he groaned, “I thought we weren’t using ki. And since when is your ki black?” He started to push himself to his feet, and Akane moved away from the corner from which she’d been watching to offer him a hand, glaring at Ranma.

“Ki?” Ranma asked. “But I didn’t —”

Akane’s glare softened, turning to worry. “Ranma, your hands.”

Ranma glanced down, eyes widening at the sight of the fluctuating ribbons of dark energy crackling around her still-clenched fists. Closing her eyes and concentrating, she could _feel_ the energy she’d been able to sense ever since the first night after she’d almost killed Moto-san when he’d tried to help her, but it was no longer stored, waiting for use — instead, it was flowing through her body, suffusing her muscles, balled around her hands ... and slowly leaking away. Suddenly frightened, she desperately tried to somehow force it out of her, force it back into the no-space where she had had it bottled up, and slowly the energy drained away, pushed back into storage. But there wasn’t nearly what there had been before.

She opened her eyes and looked at her hands, sighing in relief at finding the ribbons of dark energy gone, then looked up to find Ryoga on his feet with the help of Akane. The two were watching her, Akane’s worry still plain, Ryoga trying to hide his. Ranma waved her hands. “See? All gone!” she said, and the Lost Boy relaxed ... the _very handsome_ Lost Boy....

_What are ya thinkin’? It’s_ Ryoga _!_ Ranma shook her head, breaking her focus on her rival’s face (though now that she thought about it, those little fangs _were_ kinda cute....), to find that she’d taken a couple of steps toward him. Whirling, she bolted out of the dojo.

/\

Ryoga and Akane stared at the open door the naked redhead had vanished through. Finally, Ryoga shook his head. “What’s _his_ problem?” he growled.

Taking a deep breath, Akane managed to force a lighthearted tone. “No problem, she’s just still adjusting to her new body. Come on, let’s get you to the furo. By the time you get cleaned up, Kasumi should have finished your meal. You can tell me all about what you’ve been up to since the wedding while your clothes dry, and then I’ll take you out to Akari’s. Have you seen her lately?”

Ryoga’s eyes unfocused as he smiled blissfully. “Yes, I have, a couple times,” he said. “I seem to be finding my way there more than here, now....”

Akane smiled to herself as she led Ryoga into the house toward the furo and listened to him enthuse about the green-haired sumo pig trainer that had thankfully replaced her in the Lost Boy’s heart — that one question had distracted him from Ranma nicely. Glancing at the ceiling toward her and Ranma’s room, her smile faded. If only all her problems could be solved so easily.... After she had Ryoga safely ensconced in the furo, she’d have to see if her lover had taken refuge there, and find out exactly what _her_ problem was.


	24. Final Exam

Ever since arriving at the Tendo dojo, Ranma had spent quite a bit of time on the roof of the Tendo home — there, he could stare up at the clouds and stars he’d known during his wanderings with his father and think, without really separating himself from the household he had found himself a part of (and without getting too far from Kasumi’s cooking). Since his decision to ‘go girl’ as Akane had required if they were to be lovers, and especially since she’d abruptly found herself turned into a succubus, she had spent some time up there, finding a little solitude to consider how her life was changing.

But that was only one of the two places that Ranma had used for privacy, and the lesser one — the one for idle musings and a little privacy in a city where that commodity was in short supply while still being available at need. There was another place he had found, under a bridge, to where he fled when he truly wanted to be unavailable, to get away from everything — to hide (though he’d never admit it). Since the day of the wedding and her long night afterward thinking about the choice Akane had given her, she had not been back. She hadn’t needed it while she was still human, and had been too busy since. Now, she had been there for hours, pausing only long enough to grab some clothes as she’d fled from Ryoga and the lust she’d felt tugging her toward him.

In those hours, as the hunger coiled and twisted inside her Ranma had thought back over the days since the transformation, and was not particularly happy with what she found there. That lust had always been there — sometimes a roaring fire when she’d made love to Akane or fed off of one of the other girls, or during her nightly training, sometimes fading to a barely perceptible buzz like during her daily katas and sparring, but always there. Even the few minutes she’d spent with her mother when asking the Saotome matriarch to throw her out of the family, on looking back she thought it had been there — something she found deeply disturbing when she realized how little that bothered her.

_Welcome ta the joys a’ bein’ a sex demon,_ she thought, her laughter tinged with bitterness. _I guess fer you, now, not wantin’ ta sleep with someone’s like not wantin’ ta eat the family pet, whatever they were before._ Glancing toward where the sun was sinking in the sky, she sighed. _Well, ya aren’t plannin’ on killing yerself and ya have ta eat, so let’s get yer ‘graduation’ over with and get on with life. Just remember, don’t kill Isoruko-sensei, however hungry ya are now — Ayano-san wouldn’t like it._

/oOo\

Dressed in the schoolgirl outfit she’d found waiting for her in the changing room and with her hair loose and flowing down over her shoulders, Ranma strode into the room where she had met Isoruko the previous nights of her training, to find her sensei waiting for her. As his eyes roamed across her, a shiver ran up her spine, the hunger at her core snarling and clawing against her self-control. The training the last few nights had been wonderful and somewhat frustrating at the same time — Isoruko-sensei undeniably knew how to make a woman happy and beyond the pleasure had been her joy at learning a new Art, but she’d never been able to completely relax for fear of losing control of her appetite. Keeping that control had been easy enough, if needing constant attention, but after her spar with Ryoga, she was afraid this night was going to be worse — much worse.

Fighting to keep her struggle off her face, she pirouetted in place, her short plaid skirt flaring out and up to flash her panties (cotton regular cut, of course, she was supposed to be the Schoolgirl Next Door, not the Sexpot in the City). “So, Teach, what d’ya wanna test first?” she asked with a saucy grin.

Isoruko chuckled, rolling his eyes. “Not a ‘what’, a ‘who’,” he replied. “I already know you’ve mastered the various techniques I’ve shown you, so tonight we put it all together. For your final exam you’re going to have a fairly busy night, with different men. This is going to be a typical evening for you for at least the first few weeks, from the way you’re pre-booked.”

_Whoa! This has potential,_ Ranma thought as for just a moment her grin turned feral. Maybe she wouldn’t have to wait until the next night to begin really filling the emptiness at her core, after all. With how early she’d left the dojo, she hadn’t gotten her usual daily ration from one of the girls. She’d intended to pick it up from Isoruko and somehow get through the next day to finally _really_ fill up, but now ... “Great! Let’s do it.”

/\

Ranma strode through the door of the “family room” and again twirled in place, smiling as the hungry smile on the face of her ‘client’ sharpened as he closed the door behind them. “Like what ya see?” she asked, with the same saucy grin she’d used on her sensei.

Kenta nodded dumbly as his eyes roamed over her body in its schoolgirl uniform: short plaid skirt; white, collared blouse tight enough that it outlined her bra; blue jacket; light blue ribbon bow-tied around her throat.

“Good,” she murmured and sauntered back toward him, eyes running the length of his body. He was average height so he had some inches on her, not overweight but muscles not hardened by constant exercise, dark-haired and plain, almost a caricature of the average salaryman. But the hunger at her core didn’t care, and she couldn’t see any of the markers sensei had pointed out to indicate he was nervous at her forwardness. She stood on tiptoes as she pulled his head down, lips greedily seeking his as his hands roamed down her back to cup her buttocks.

After a few minutes she broke the kiss. Taking him by the hand, she pulled him toward the couch across from the large-screen TV. He quickly sat on the edge of the couch and she dropped onto his lap, knees on each side of him as she again sought his mouth, grinding her hips against his crotch as their tongues dueled. He groaned into her mouth as his hands again found her butt cheeks, rubbing and squeezing, and she chuckled as she felt his cock hardening where it was rubbing against her dampening, cotton-covered cleft. _Careful, remember what sensei said — you can just toss yer clothes in the laundry when ya shower and get a new set, they hafta go home in whatever they’re wearing._

Forcing herself to again break away from Kenta, she glanced down and sighed softly in relief — only a tiny, light stain was visible on the bulge in the crotch of his pants. “I think you’re wearing a bit much fer this,” she breathed as she leaned down, her fingers running down his shirt and popping free button after button. He swallowed and nodded, sitting up to shrug off his shirt and toss it away, then pulled his undershirt up and off while she attacked his belt. In moments, she had his pants unzipped and down around his ankles along with his underwear.

Ranma’s eyes fixed on his revealed stiffened manhood. _I think it’s a bit smaller than sensei’s. Definitely smaller than mine,_ she thought as Kenta lifted his legs and she slipped his pants off under his feet and shoved them to the side. As his feet hit the floor, she pushed his knees wide, then leaned forward to gently cup his balls with one hand as she ran her lips along the underside of his rod to its tip. Kenta moaned at the sensation, and she grinned up at him before dipping her head back down to slip his cockhead between her lips and in, her tongue swirling around the length filling her until it bumped against the back of her mouth. She paused for a moment, the hand not already occupied circling the length of his rod that wouldn’t fit, then began to bob her head.

As she worked away at her mouthful, saliva coating her pumping hand, Kenta’s moaning increased, his hips beginning to make little thrusts toward her. “Damn, Ranko, that’s a mouth! Work it, work it....” he gasped out.

But Ranma barely heard him, her own need rising in her to match his beating against its bars, her hand falling away from his balls to slip between her legs and rub at the wet cotton fabric covering her mound. Her own hips were beginning to buck when she felt his cock swell in her mouth and hand just before it exploded, his seed gushing out — and with it the energy her body craved. _Don’t kill him don’t kill him don’t kill him don’t kill him...._ Even as she instinctively swallowed, she fought to suppress her burning desire, accepting only a trickle to feed the raging hunger, fighting back the rest of the wave beating against the wall of her will, until it faded back like an ocean receding from a sandy shore.

The redhead sat back on her heels with a sigh of relief and smiled weakly up at her ‘client’ as she used a thumb to wipe up a creamy-white trickle running down her jaw to her neck. With her eyes fixed on Kenta’s face, she licked her thumb clean. “Wow, that was quite a load. Ya been savin’ up fer me?” she asked with a slightly shaky grin.

“You know it, girl,” Kenta replied. “Now it’s your turn. Show me what you got.”

“You’re on!” Rising to her feet, Ranma reached up to slowly pull the ribbon around her collar free of its bow-tie, toss it to the side, then run her hands down the front of her blouse popping one button free after another. Swaying to the memory of music from her training, she tugged her blouse free of the waistband of her shirt, then shrugged to let her jacket and blouse to slip off her shoulders.

Kenta’s eyes lit up as the garment slid down her arms to reveal her white, lacy bra-enclosed orbs. “Yesss,” he breathed as Ranma tugged her hands free and let blouse and jacket fall to the floor. She smiled at him as she reached up to unlatch the clasp between her breasts, then paused for a long moment and her smile broadened to a grin when he growled. “Tease!” he mock-complained, and she giggled (that had taken some work, learning how — she was supposed to be tomboyish, not masculine). Finally, she let the bra fall open to reveal her large, firm breasts, nipples crinkled tight, and sauntered toward the naked man as she reached up to slide the bra’s straps off her shoulders.

Even as she resumed her earlier seat, rubbing his semi-flaccid cock against a mound still covered by now thoroughly soaked cotton panties, her bra fell to the floor at his feet and she cupped his cheeks and leaned forward to press her breasts against his smooth-skinned chest. She was watching for any hesitation on her client’s part, but there was none and she kissed him, sharing his flavor still left in her mouth.

After some minutes of their tongues dueling for supremacy, Kenta broke the kiss. His hands gripped her sides just above the waistband of her skirt and lifted her higher, and she sighed as one taut nipple was captured by his lips. She braced herself with hands on his shoulders, and his hands slid down to again massage her butt cheeks. He sucked on the captive nipple, teasing it with the tip of his tongue, then nipped lightly and chucked throatily at her yelp before switching to the other breast.

Even as he went to work on her other nipple with lips, tongue and teeth and her head whirled from her own rising wave of pleasure, he let go of her butt, one hand rising to grasp her free breast and the other slipping between her legs. Now it was her turn to moan as his fingers pushed the crotch of her panties to the side and ran between her wet folds. “Oh yes, that feels so good, yes, give it to me!” He chuckled around his mouthful and she shivered at the feel of the shared vibrations running through her firm orb, then moaned louder as he complied with her demand and his fingers plunged up into her hot sheath.

Her hips bucked, demanding more as her vaginal muscles clamped down and his chuckle turned into a laugh at the sensation. “Oh, you’re ready, all right! And so am I.” Pulling his fingers free, he lifted them up to Ranma’s mouth, chuckling again as she eagerly sucked them clean of her juices.

His fingers clean, she slid back off the couch and stood up, her eyes lighting up as she looked down at the solid rod pointing up from his groin. “Yes, you’re _definitely_ ready,” she purred. Her hands slipped under her skirt to catch the waistband of her panties and she left a damp streak down the insides of her legs as she slid the soaked garment down. She stepped out of the panties and pounced back onto her client, pushing him back into the couch and rubbing her burning groin against his rampant cock.

Smiling up at her needy expression, he grasped her hips to stop their undulations. He pulled her up, then reached between her leg to guide his erection into position. She moaned as she sank down, feeling her hot, slick walls stretching to accommodate the new intruder. Kenta may not have been as big as Sensei, but he was big enough. She fell forward against his chest, face buried against the hollow of her shoulder and shudders running the length of her body, awash in pleasure. _Not good, not good, ya need ta get back inta control, ya got another blowout comin’._ She wrapped her arms up under his arms behind his shoulders and lifted her head to seek his lips with hers while she fought for control over her burning need.

Finally, the shudders eased off and she decided it was safe. Pulling her arms out from behind her temporary lover, she pushed herself upright and began to lift and drop, lift and drop, gasping at the feeling of the seemingly rock-hard rod leaving her almost empty only to slam back in, shocks of pleasure washing through her with each drop. She was beginning to moan through her gasps, and the volume of the moans increased as Kenta reached up to grasp her bouncing, quivering orbs, hands clenching tight enough to actually be a bit painful, and even the pain added to the mix of pleasure and need beginning to shake her. She briefly considered adding more undulation to her motions, increase the variety of sensations echoing through her, but rejected it. Her control was already shaky, no point in deliberately making things worse.

Then Kenta let go of her breasts to grab her hips, slamming her down against his groin and holding her there, and she again felt his cock swell and his seed splashed into her depths, against her walls, filling her — and with the seed again came the tsunami of energy washing over her, beating against her shaky will, seeking to drown her, fill her. “Aaaaaaaaaaah!” she screamed out, head thrown back, eyes closed, every muscle tight as she fought to withstand that flood. This time her strength of will had weakened, more was getting through, but her need from earlier had weakened as well and her will held — mostly. Finally, the tide receded and she collapsed forward in relief, every muscle limp. _Did it! An’ the next one should be easier._

For a time the two simply sat there on the couch, his hands gently stroking her sweat-covered back as she gasped for breath. Finally, he glanced at the clock on the wall and murmured, “Ranko, that was spectacular, but we’re about out of time. Do you mind if I look you up again later?”

Ranma pushed herself up, pushing the red hair plastered to her forehead by her sweat out of her eyes. _‘Never tell a client ya don’t want him back, that’s Ayano-san’s job.’ Not that that’s a problem here._ “I’d like that,” she agreed warmly, smiling happily at him before swinging one leg over to flop back into the couch beside him. Grabbing some tissues from a box on the side table and pulling her skirt out of the way to take care of the milky-white outflow oozing out, she asked, “Ya been in here before?”

“Yes, I have.” Wearily, Kenta pushed himself up from the couch and plodded over to a set of drawers against a nearby wall. Opening one, he pulled out a damp washcloth and wiped himself down, following it up with a towel from another drawer before grabbing his clothes from where they were scattered about the room and pulling them on. Walking back to the couch, he carefully leaned down to gently kiss her without staining his clothes with her sweat. “Until next time,” he said, smiling at her happy grin as she nodded agreement, then strode from the room.

As soon as the door closed, Ranma tossed the tissues she’d been holding against her cleft into a tiny garbage can and levered herself out of the couch. Unzipping her skirt, she slid it off, tsked at the wide stain front and back, then gathered up her own clothes and walked naked toward the room’s other door, the one that led to a shower and another way out. Time to get out of the way of the cleaning crew and ready for her next ‘client’.

/oOo\

Ayano looked up from her computer monitor at the knock on her office door, then over at the clock. It was the early hours of the morning, which meant that it was probably time to learn how her latest recruit had tested out.

“Come in!” she called out, and Isoruko stepped inside, closing the door behind him, and sat wearily in the comfortable chair in front of her desk. “So, how did Ranko do?” she asked as she pulled a bottle of sake from a desk drawer along with a pair of cups.

“She’s a natural, and she’s going to make you boatloads of yen,” he said.

Ayano paused her pouring, glancing up. “Really? What happened to the reserve that had you doubting earlier?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. It was still there when we started, stronger than ever. But as her ‘busy night’ went on, it faded away. By her sixth ‘client’, she was completely involved and enjoying herself thoroughly. When I finished off her night, she was a little worn but still had the energy to do a proper job. And she didn’t just outlast all six, she wore them out.”

“Hmmm.” Ayano finished filling their cups, then leaned back and sipped her sake. “Good, Ranko strikes me as one of the stubborn ones — if it turned out she _really_ didn’t care for the life, she’d probably stick with it anyway out of sheer determination.” _Especially since she claims she’s getting into it to support a family._ “The damage that can cause is _not_ pretty. So what’s your overall assessment, other than ‘boatloads of yen’?”

“She’s easily learned every technique I’ve tried to teach her,” Isoruko replied, picking up his cup. “Don’t use her for roleplaying, other than changes of clothes and rooms, she isn’t an actress. On the other hand, she plays herself very well, and between her innate talent and the way she actually enjoys herself instead of faking, it really enhances the experience. And you shouldn’t need to worry about the appearance of her clients. Tonight it didn’t matter — thin, overweight, handsome, ugly, gaijin, she never hesitated. The call girls that used to work for you, the ones you send your girls that want to stick with the Life after graduation to, to learn how it works? I think she’s going to end up being one of them.

“Oh, and I know you usually let the new girls slack off on the schoolwork at first, then catch up when their novelty wears off and they have more time. In this case, don’t — get her a tutor, bring her in early for study time, whatever. I don’t think the list of her advance bookings is going to fall off much, if at all.”

Ayano nodded. “And the safety measures?”

Isoruko frowned thoughtfully. “There, you may have a problem. She knows about the cameras, of course, and that unlike tonight they aren’t monitored live or the recordings viewed later unless a problem comes up. She also knows where every panic button is in every room, and that you have people ready to respond instantly if any of them are hit. But I can’t shake the feeling that she doesn’t really take the security precautions seriously.”

“That’s because she’s a highly trained martial artist, you can see it in the way she moves. I’ve seen it before, though not in one of my girls,” Ayano told him. “Still, girls engaged in this line of work place themselves in _very_ vulnerable positions. Why don’t you make a list of all the techniques you’ve taught her? I’ll have her demonstrate how she’d deal with an assault from each of them and have her come up with something for any that she doesn’t have an immediate answer. In fact, it would be a good idea to have her teach them to the rest of the girls later.”

“Sounds good.” Isoruko smothered a yawn, then finished off his cup of sake. “I’ll email my written evaluation in a couple of days, but for now it’s been a long night and my _empty_ bed is calling me.”

Ayano stood with him and walked him to the door. “Thank you, as always.”

“As always, it was very much my pleasure,” he replied, bowing before he stepped out and closed the door behind him.

Ayano returned to her desk and leaned back in her chair with a sigh as she considered Ranko — or rather, Ranma. It hadn’t been hard to learn her true identity, all it took was being a little openminded about what was possible. In fact, having ‘Ranko’ choosing to work for her was harder to believe than her water-based curse, something more was going on than what Ayano had been told. _Still, maybe I’ve found my heir. I hope so, I’ve been here too long. While it’s certainly made my role rock-solid, it’s still past time for me to move on. And for a mortal, her thread of harmony in the Symphony is very strong. She’s going to make an impact one way or the other, let’s give her the opportunity to make it a positive one._

/oOo\

A nude Ranma with her below-shoulder-length hair once again in a ponytail had her red-furred wings outstretched to their fullest expansion, gliding through the darkness above the streetlights, skimming the roofs of the houses, remembering Nabiki’s advice about not getting so high she showed up on radar. The familiar shape of the Tendo dojo came into view, all lights out of course, seeing how early in the morning it was. But with her new sight that made the darkness as day no light was needed, and she aimed for directly above her and Akane’s window. She had had some practice since her first attempted landing when she visited her mother, and now when she swung her legs forward and beat back with her wings her timing was perfect. She touched down just above the open window without a sound.

Once she was firmly on the roof, she closed her eyes to concentrate, and her wings shrank and vanished into her back but leaving her tail and tiny horns in place and the red fur ‘v’ed down her back. For a moment she considered getting rid of them as well and pulling on the clothes in her hand, but shrugged. _Not much point, not like there’s anybody around ta see me._ She spread out the pants and blouse on the roof and lay down on them to gaze up at the stars.

_Ya know, tonight turned out a lot better than I expected,_ she thought, thinking back over her ‘final exam’. _Havin’ a bunch a guys ta feed off of was just what I needed. Not ta mention a lot a’ fun, once I took the edge off my hunger._

And more than just the edge, for the first time since the night of the ceremony her hunger was gone, a weight lifted that she had gotten so used to she had barely noticed it anymore, and in spite of her weariness she felt alive in a way she never had before.

She briefly considered flying out to an abandoned quarry she knew of outside the city, to try out the power she felt flowing through her, begging to be used, but reluctantly rejected the idea — Akane was already going to be angry with her for the way she’d left without an explanation, and her ... reluctance ... to get close to anyone until she had to go to work had kept the redhead from calling. _Yeah, after all that, if I’m not here in the mornin’ and she finds out it’s ‘cause I wanted ta play ... well, I can’t let her hit me, but she isn’t gonna be happy._ Though having her lover chase her around the house _was_ good speed practice for Akane ... good endurance practice too, if her lover was _really_ angry.

With a sigh she sat up, gathered up her clothes and reached down to toss them through the open window below her, then stepped off the edge of the roof, twisting and grabbing it to swing herself through the window.

Akane lay on the bed, still dressed in shorts and T-shirt and fast asleep, and Ranma’s eyes softened as she gazed at her lover — her _pregnant_ lover — in the light/dark. _You two aren’t gonna lack fer anything, I swear it._ Reaching down, she gently shook Akane’s shoulder. “Hey, Tomboy, it’s bedtime, you’re supposed ta be undressed,” she whispered.

Akane opened sleep-fogged eyes, then shot upright at the sight of her lover’s shape in the dark. “Ran — !” she started to shout, but broke off as Ranma’s hand covered her mouth.

“Shhh! Everyone’s asleep, let’s keep it that way.”

Akane nodded. “Ranma,” she whispered when the hand was removed, remembering Kasumi’s advice (order) that evening as her anger had grown — get the facts, first. “Where did you go? Where have you been? Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Ranma assured her. “I just got really hungry, wasn’t sure I was safe ta be around, didn’t get ta a phone in time ta call ya before work.”

“We need to get you a cell phone,” the raven-haired girl groused, then grinned. “And maybe a cute little handbag to carry it in?” She chuckled when her redhead shuddered, then sobered. “Are you ... all right, now?”

“Yeah, better than all right — the final exam turned out ta be a test run of a busy night, I’m actually full up.”

Akane stiffened, then forced herself to relax along with a shaky smile as she reached down to grab the hem of her T-shirt. “Good,” she said as she pulled the shirt up and over her head. Tossing it to the side and reaching behind to unclasp her bra, she add, “Let’s get to bed.”

Ranma yawned and nodded, then pulled back the sheets and lay down. A few moments later, a now naked Akane was spooned up against her furred back and pulling the sheets over them. Ranma smiled drowsily, almost purring. To her complete surprise, it had been a _good_ night. Closing her eyes, she faded off to sleep.

Akane lay in bed, gently stroking her lover’s hair and staring into the darkness, for over an hour before she finally managed the same.


	25. Welcome Home

Kasumi finally rose from her restless sleep, sitting up in her bed and rubbing at puffy eyes. Ranma hadn’t come home — or at least if she had, she hadn’t made enough noise to disturb the eldest Tendo sister’s sleep, such as it had been. And after the way the succubus had bolted in the middle of the spar with Ryoga and hadn’t returned before she was due to leave for her ‘final exam’ —

Rising to her feet, the matronly Tendo pulled on a house robe and quietly slipped out of her bedroom and down the hallway to Ranma’s and Akane’s room. Gently pushing open the door, she peeked in, then sighed with relief at the sight of Akane snuggled up against her smaller redheaded lover, Ranma’s tail wrapped around the wrist of the hand loosely cupping her bare breast.

Pulling the door closed, Kasumi tiptoed down the hall toward the stairs. Whatever the problem had been Ranma was safe and with Akane, and that was enough for now. It was time to turn on the furo, start the laundry, and start breakfast.

/\

The eldest Tendo sister frowned unhappily as she sorted laundry for the first washer load, thinking back over the past week. The first time with Ranma had been wonderful, everything she’d ever dreamed of. The second time — no. Very much ‘no’, in fact. She understood that Ranma was trying to stay as faithful to Akane as her new nature allowed — had understood it at the time — but she suspected that the businesslike, if apologetic, way the succubus had approached their second ‘feeding’ was how it must be for prostitutes. She was fairly certain she didn’t care for it.

_You know, it wasn’t the fact that Ranma was a girl the second time that bothered you, was it? It was the lack of an emotional connection —_ that’s _what Ranma was holding back, after all._

Kasumi paused at the thought. It was true — while Ranma’s girl form didn’t give her the same thrill that the raven-haired hunk of a man form did, it _was_ cute. She could have really enjoyed ... ah, ‘connecting’ with that tiny redhead. But that wasn’t going to happen. Even if Ranma’s job wasn’t going to supply all the ‘food’ she needed, any shared bedtime would be like the second round, not the first, all physical pleasure and no emotional connection.

_But Ranma isn’t the only girl in the house, is she?_

No, she wasn’t. For a brief moment, Kasumi thought of Nabiki. _No. Even if she wasn’t my sister, there’s something wrong with her — I don’t think she’d be any more able to connect emotionally than Ranma, and for all the wrong reasons. I’m so very sorry, little sis. I tried so hard, but I just couldn’t be the mother you needed._

But that left Xian Pu.... _And a startlingly beautiful girl she is, too, and an accomplished warrior. But how do I get her attention?_ Scenes from the romances she read flashed through her mind, leaving her blushing faintly even as she winced before renewing her sorting. No, however much her taste in novels had helped with her first time with Ranma, she didn’t think they’d be much use with this situation — not considering how much chaos there was in the typical romance. Besides, she doubted that Xian Pu read the same books she did.

_You’re overthinking this, Kasumi. Not only is Shampoo from a different culture, but she’s as direct as Ranma is — even if you could come up with some subtle way to hint at your interest, she’s almost certain to miss it._

The brown-haired young woman paused as another thought struck her. Even as her faint blush deepened into a fiery red, she straightened and stepped away from the laundry. Slowly, she reached behind her to untie her apron and lift it off over her head, then equally slowly popped open one button after another down the front of her house dress. Shrugging it off her shoulders, she slid the dress down her body and stepped out of it. For a moment she hesitated, then reached behind her to unfasten her bra, shrugged it off, hooked her fingers into the waistband of her panties to slide them down her legs and off, then stepped over to stand in front of the mirror.

Staring at her reflection of her nude body, she reached up to heft her breasts — perhaps not as large as Ranma’s, much less Xian Pu’s, they were larger than Nabiki’s and certainly Akane’s, and still firm enough that she could get away with not wearing a bra, so long as she was careful not to move too vigorously. _And Ranma certainly enjoyed them...._ Her muscles weren’t as toned as the martial artists’, of course, or even Nabiki’s, but they weren’t flabby. And what had _really_ caught Ranma’s attention ... one hand released a breast to reach down and slide over the soft, smooth, shaven clean skin of her mound, a shiver running through her at the light touch. No, she had nothing to be ashamed of.

Turning from the mirror, she picked up her apron and slipped the strap over her head before firmly tying the apron strings behind her. She had been remiss in her duties — if Ranma was more comfortable walking around in the nude, it was impolite to force her to do so alone. Besides, with the apron on it wasn’t like anyone could actually _see_ anything — so long as she was careful how and when she bent over, at least.

/\

She was chopping the green onions for the miso soup, when she heard the knock at the front door. Startled, Kasumi’s eyes flew to the wall clock—as she thought, it was still early enough that no one else would be up yet, who could be visiting this early?

Putting down the knife, she hurried toward the front door, only to slam to a stop with an “Oh, my!” when she remembered how she was dress — or rather, wasn’t dressed. Turning, she ran for the furo even as whoever was waiting knocked again. Grabbing her robe from its hook, she threw it on and hastily tied it shut as she raced back to open the door.

Standing in the doorway was Saotome Nodoka — but not the immaculate, if old-fashioned, woman that had temporarily lived at the dojo weeks before. This woman was ... not dirty, but ... unkempt, as if she had rushed through her morning preparations. Strands of hair had escaped from her usual bun, if they’d ever been a part of it at all, and her kimono was not quite as impeccably in place as it had always been in the past. Her skin was pale, her eyes shadowed and baggy, and the hands that gripped the usual bundled Saotome Honor blade were white from pressure. She seemed to have aged years within weeks.

Oh, my, Auntie Nodoka!” Kasumi gasped, staring at the older woman in shock.

“Am I still — Auntie Nodoka, I mean?”

Kasumi shook herself free of her shock and stepped back to make room. “Of course you are, Auntie. Ranma will be happy to have you back — you know she would never admit to being anxious about anything, but usually the first thing she asks when she sees me in the morning is if I’ve heard from you. Please, come in, I was just in the middle of preparing breakfast.”

Nodoka’s shoulders slumped in relief, and she stepped forward to change into house slippers before following Kasumi toward the kitchen. Once there, she set the bundled katana to the side out of the way, and without a word took an apron off its hook and put it on before starting in to help Kasumi with finishing up the breakfast preparations.

For a time, neither spoke except to coordinate their breakfast preparations. Finally, as Kasumi was washing off the utensils they’d used, Nodoka broke the silence.

“Kasumi-kun, how is Ranma ... adjusting?”

“Please, call me Kasumi as you did before, there is no need for new formality.” Kasumi considered the question as she handed a knife to Nodoka to dry. “She told you about the mental adjustment that makes it so that she finds men attractive?” Nodoka nodded. “I think without that help she might well have committed suicide. With it, she is handling the change as well as she has always handled the chaos that permeates her life. I think it helps that she’s starting her new job tonight, so she’ll be able to explore her new capabilities without risk of losing control of her hunger and killing someone or creating a new succubus.”

Nodoka winced, but slowly nodded. “And Akane-kun?”

It was Kasumi’s turn to wince. “Little sister is ... less than pleased. She is having difficulty accepting that she must share Ranma, and frustrated that her pregnancy is interfering with her training. I’m hoping that her return to school next week will ... give her something to focus on beyond Ranma and martial arts.”

“I see,” Nodoka mused. “But won’t that create scheduling conflicts? School will occupy Akane-kun’s mornings and early afternoons and many of her evenings, and I would think Ranma’s ... profession ... will use up her evenings, especially on the weekend.”

“Yes, you are right,” Kasumi admitted unhappily. “But right now little sister is basically sitting at home and stewing, she _has_ to get something like her normal life back.”

“Yes, a difficult balancing act, you are probably correct,” Nodoka agreed. “And at least Ranma and Akane-kun will see more of each other than I saw of my husband and son during the training trip.”

A thoughtful silence fell for a time. Then as Nodoka was drying the last bowl, she asked, “Kasumi ... why are you wearing your apron _underneath_ your robe?”

Kasumi’s blush was so fiery that she thought she was going to faint.


	26. Egg Tooth

Nabiki stumbled into the family and around the low table, and with a semi-controlled collapse sat in her usual place and rubbed at her eyes. She had never been a morning person, and having Ranma and Akane sharing a room for the past month hadn’t helped at all. At least, until last week after Ranma had started training for her new job, when the nights had become as peaceful as they’d usually been before Ranma’s arrival. No morning brawls between Ranma and his father, no rude strangers looking for a fight, no maniacal fiancées — she was actually halfway convinced that the consecutive peaceful nights of sleep she’d had made up for needing to act as a food source for the brand new succubus before a couple of those nights. Now if only it could make up for the long, boring days she was spending with Shampoo trying to translate the scrolls. She _knew_ they were missing things, thanks to the Amazon girl’s shaky Japanese, but so far the mercenary Tendo had been unable to think of someone that could _maybe_ read the scrolls that she was willing to trust.

“Good morning, Nabiki, I hope you slept well?”

“G’mrng, Ksmi,” Nabiki mumbled back as she completed their morning ritual by picking up the cup of coffee Kasumi had placed on the table in front of her. Lifting it, she took a deep sip, looked up — and froze in place as she found herself staring at her sister’s shapely ... and naked ... backside as Kasumi strode to the doorway to return to the kitchen.

The middle Tendo sister didn’t realize coffee was dribbling down her chin until Nodoka handed her a napkin. “Nabiki-chan, you had better change that top so Kasumi can get the coffee out before the stain sets,” the Saotome matriarch suggested with an urchin grin that was almost as much of a shock as Kasumi’s state of undress.

Nabiki swallowed what was left of her mouthful of coffee and put the cup back on its saucer as she shook off the shock, then abruptly surged to her feet. “I’m going to make that bastard wish he — she had never been born!” she shouted.

“Language, Nabiki-chan,” Nodoka scolded. “Who are you talking about?”

“Ranma! She’s infected Kasumi!”

Of course she hasn’t,” Kasumi said serenely as she walked back through the door carrying breakfast dishes on a tray.

“But ... but ... you ...”

“I simply felt that if Ranma feels most comfortable without clothes, she should not be alone,” Kasumi continued as if Nabiki hadn’t spoken, crouching to place the breakfast tray by the table.

Nabiki shook her head, but before she could resume her stuttered disagreement the other three females of the household walked through the doorway from inside the house, still damp from the furo.  A grinning Ranma was in the lead, in her now typical bare state when at home and her tail swishing from side to side as she walked. “That was a really cool move,” the red-haired girl said over her shoulder to Xian Pu. “Why didn’t ya use it before?”

Xian Pu shrugged. “Never need it be —” She broke off, eyes widening as they took in the family room’s occupants.

Ranma’s head whipped forward to see what the threat was ... and she stumbled at the sight of the auburn-haired woman. “Mom?”

Nodoka stood stiffly in place, eyes fixed on her child’s face. “As you requested, not any longer — but I would like to be ‘Auntie’ Nodoka, if you’ll have me.”

Ranma stared at her for a long moment, before visibly gathering her senses. “Yeah, sure, glad ta have ya,” she got out, as her hands made abortive motions toward her breasts and crotch.

Noticing the hesitant movements, Nodoka forced a smile. “Kasumi has already explained your ... ah ... preference for not wearing clothes, Ranma, there is no need to change that on my part.”

“Ah ... sure, thanks ...” Ranma stumbled to a halt, her tail lashing back and forth behind her. Mother and daughter stared at each other even as the succubus frantically tried to figure out what to do now that she’d gotten what she’d wanted.

Behind her, Akane rolled her eyes. “Typical, something else that didn’t change,” she muttered, then continued more loudly, “Hug her, already!” Reaching up, she planted her hand between Ranma’s fur-covered shoulder blades and gently shoved.

Caught off guard, Ranma stumbled forward into her mother’s arms. Nodoka stepped back under the sudden collision but managed to keep her feet, then shifted her hold into an embrace. After a moment, Ranma hesitantly returned the hug, her red-furred tail lifting to circle Nodoka’s waist. “I’m glad you’re back, Mom — Auntie,” she murmured into her mother’s shoulder.

Kasumi sniffled slightly from where she watched off to one side. “How beautiful,” she murmured.

Akane glanced over. “You’ve got — Kasumi, what are you _wearing_?!” she gasped, gaping as her eldest sister’s appearance finally registered.

“More like, what she _not_ wearing ... too too little,” Xian Pu snickered.

A furiously blushing Kasumi again laid out her ‘reasoning’ as she crouched to resume laying out the breakfast dishes on the low table before sitting in her own usual spot. Akane meekly sat, head whirling with the explanation — anyone else (besides Ranma now, of course), and she’d have already loudly labeled them a pervert, but ... quiet, matronly, upright Kasumi?

The breakfast was quiet except for the occasional snicker from Xian Pu’s continuing amusement at Akane’s bemused state, until Nabiki asked, “So Ranma, why did you run away yesterday?”

/\

Nabiki sat quietly as the breakfast finished up. She’d rushed her breakfast while Ranma had explained her abrupt departure and late return, and while the middle Tendo wasn’t anywhere close to Ranma’s or Genma’s speed when it came to clearing off a plate, she’d finished up quickly enough to devote some time to people watching while the rest finished their meal. She wasn’t sure she liked what she saw. Certainly, she enjoyed a certain level of chaos around her, during the daytime at least — it kept life interesting and opened up opportunities to rake in more yen — but the hints she was picking up perhaps had the potential to make things more exciting than she’d like.

_Okay, something’s going on between Akane and Ranma — mostly on Akane’s part. No big surprise there, I think little sis is finding she bit off more than she expected and Ranma’s as oblivious as usual. Maybe school will help with that, get Akane out of the house. ‘Auntie’ Nodoka might help, too._

With that little problem set to the side for the moment, the mercenary Tendo’s eyes drifted over almost unwillingly to her older sister, now kneeling as she ate. The others seemed to have bought her excuse for parading around in only an apron, but not Nabiki — not the way Kasumi was blushing as she explained. _Now that I think about it,_ ‘Auntie’ _didn’t buy it, either. There was something off about how she took it — outside of the way she just accepted it, that is. Ranma parading around in the buff is one thing, she isn’t human anymore. Kasumi very much —_

“Shampoo, finished already? Please, have some more fish, Ranma actually left some extra for the rest of us.” Kasumi leaned over to pick up the plate with the fish and slip another piece onto Shampoo’s plate ... and gave the Amazon a view under the top of her apron in the process.

Nabiki froze. Was her sister _flirting_ with Xian Pu? She wanted to reject the thought out of hand, but other little oddities in Kasumi’s behavior since breakfast had started returned to mind. Ranma would be oblivious and Akane would be doing her best to ignore it if she’d noticed, but ... Nabiki hastily glanced over at Nodoka. The older woman had the strangest look on her face, an odd mix of bubbling delight and wry disapproval ... and then it was gone, the Saotome matriarch’s normal calm expression firmly in place.

Then everyone was finished and rising to go their separate ways, Akane talking about last minute shopping before the new school year started in the coming week and Ranma rolling her eyes but surprisingly keeping her mouth shut as the two headed for the dojo and Akane’s morning training. Xian Pu was right behind them, while Nodoka and Kasumi started picking up the dishes. Xian Pu paused in the doorway, looking back toward a Nabiki still sitting frozen in her seat — and Kasumi stepped between them and _bent_ over to pick up more plates, and incidentally flashed the young Amazon in the process. And from the way Nabiki could see her sister again blushing furiously, she knew exactly what she was doing. And from the way that Xian Pu glanced from the shapely derriere on display to Nabiki, so did Kasumi’s target.

_Damn, looks like I’m going to need to give Kasumi some lessons in subtlety — or get her to a psychiatrist,_ Nabiki thought as she finally rose to her feet. “Shampoo, why don’t you go get the scrolls? I’ll be back in a minute.” Xian Pu nodded and headed toward the stairs, and Nabiki bent down to grab some more dishes and follow Nodoka and her sister.

In the kitchen, Nabiki glanced over at Nodoka and silently nodded toward the door. Nodoka nodded and quickly left, and Nabiki turned to her sister. “All right, Kasumi, what’s going on?” she demanded.

Kasumi looked up, flustered. “What do you mean?”

Nabiki waved toward her solitary garment. “The apron thing. Akane bought your explanation because she refuses to believe that her saintly sister would intentionally do anything perverted but I’m not buying it, not after the way you put yourself on display for Shampoo — something Akane completely ignored, by the way. I can’t even call what you did flirting, it was too blatant.”

“Oh.” Kasumi was beet red again. “Do you think Shampoo noticed?”

“After the way you practically stuck your butt in her face? She noticed. So what’s going on?”

“I ...” Kasumi turned away to start washing dishes. “I ... I’m lonely,” she admitted quietly. “I didn’t realize how lonely until Ranma and Akane finally got together.  And then the first time, when Ranma made love to me instead of just ... feeding.... I don’t think Shampoo’s going to magically turn into the love of my life, but I want more than I have.”

“Oh.” Nabiki stared at Kasumi, wondering why she’d never seen through her sister’s mask of serene matronhood. _Because you couldn’t be bothered — she puts the food on the table, washes your clothes, and cleans up after you, and that’s been all you care about._ She finally said, “I didn’t think that you were into girls.”

Kasumi shrugged. “I certainly prefer men,” she replied, glancing over at her sister as she continued to fill the second sink for rinsing. “If Dr. Tofu was still around I might have considered making a play for him — he’s a good man, and amusing. But when I learned that we needed to help out Ranma until she could start her new job, I found that the thought of being with her as a girl didn’t bother me — she’s certainly cute enough, isn’t she? But she’s also Akane’s, so that leaves you and Shampoo.”

Nabiki stiffened, eyes wide, before forcing herself to relax when she noticed Kasumi trying to hide an atypical urchin grin. “By all means, go after Shampoo!” Nabiki intoned, shuddering theatrically. Kasumi giggled, and her younger sister felt herself relax even more at the sound. She watched Kasumi for a minute, then sighed and stepped forward to take over the rinsing. She was going to have to force herself to help more with the housework ... damn it!

The two worked silently side by side until the dishes were finished, including the additions brought in by a Nodoka smiling in approval. When they’d finished and Nabiki was wiping her hands dry, she said, “Kasumi, if you want to sleep with Shampoo, stop playing around and just ask her. She won’t be offended, and you’ll stop giving me a heart attack — Akane’s been able to ignore your ... ah, _flirting_ up till now, but do you really want to push your luck?”

Kasumi glanced sidelong at her sister. “You think so ... about Shampoo, I mean?” she asked uncertainly.

“Hey, she’s been living with Mousse for the past few years — compared to _that_ boy, you’ve been the soul of discretion. No, she won’t be offended.”

A hint of a smile temporarily broke through Kasumi’s once again firmly in place serene mask, and she nodded. “I’ll think about it.” She started wiping down the counter, and Nabiki watched her for a moment before sighing and heading back to the family room ... and Xian Pu and the stack of scrolls.

For a moment, she considered detouring to the dojo to warn Akane and Ranma of the additional possible budding relationship, but quickly rejected the thought ... it would be more fun to sit back and watch the fallout. With her bedroom between Kasumi’s and the one Ranma and Akane were sharing, Nabiki was already making a bet with herself on how long it would take Akane to figure it out — she would win whichever side of the coin came up, of course.


	27. "They're ba-ack ... !"

“Nabiki, Shampoo-kun, it’s time for lunch,” Kasumi announced from the family room doorway.

“Gotcha, sis,” Nabiki replied, glancing up. Yes, her big sister was still dressed in just an apron.

Shrugging slightly, the middle Tendo sighed with relief as she set down her pencil while an obviously just as relieved Shampoo set aside the scroll they had been studying. Nabiki wondered if Shampoo’s mind hurt as much as hers did. They’d hit yet another impasse, Shampoo simply lacking the Japanese to explain the concepts they were trying to translate. Normally they would have simply set the scroll aside for later and moved on to the next, but this one was _important_. At least, Nabiki thought so — considering the normal chaos that surrounded Ranma, in her opinion anything that dealt with healing had top priority. So the two had spent the morning circling the reading, trying to come up with some angle that might grant Shampoo the words or Nabiki the enlightenment they needed.

Unfortunately, they had failed miserably. Nabiki was reluctantly coming to the conclusion that they were going to have to put aside the translation for awhile and sign the Amazon teenager up for a crash immersion course in Japanese. The cost for an instant immersion course would be high enough ... and the family budget tight enough ... that they’d be reduced to eating cheap noodles for weeks, and not even Kasumi could work magic powerful enough to make _that_ palatable, but it might be worth it. Even going back over what they’d already sort-of-translated afterward, they’d probably save time and have a better product —

_Idiot! ‘Ranko’ starts work tonight, and since she’s a new girl her first stipend’ll probably be a hefty one. And she_ is _supposed to be working to support her family, right? Of course, that first check won’t arrive for a week — time to give Kuno a call, let him know where he can find a certain redhead. Considering the kind of waiting list there probably is by this time, he shouldn’t actually make it in for at least a month, that should be enough to give me cover. Then Ranma can pay me back when she gets paid._ Happy that she’d found an easy answer for _something_ , she gathered up an armful of scrolls from the table and rose from where she sat to put them in one of the room’s cabinets.

“Oh, let me help you with that,” Kasumi exclaimed, bending over by Xian Pu gather up her own armful of scrolls — and coincidentally give the Amazon warrior a side shot of the swell of her breast through the side of her sagging apron.

_Well, at least that was a_ little _more subtle than this morning,_ Nabiki thought, _and she seems to have her blush under better control._ Even as she gathered up scrolls of her own, Xian Pu’s eyes flicked to the side to take in the offered view, then over to Nabiki. Nabiki shrugged, rolling her eyes (careful to make sure that Kasumi couldn’t see her). When Kasumi had hurried from the room to fetch lunch, the Amazon asked quietly, “Kasumi really make offer?”

“Yup, she sure did,” Nabiki replied, grinning.

“And Mercenary ... and Nabiki no care?”

Nabiki shrugged again. “She’s a big girl, she can make her own decisions about her love life. As long as you don’t play with her emotions, go for it, we’re good.”

Xian Pu nodded as she placed her own armload of scrolls in the cabinet. “Shampoo understand. Kasumi no warrior, but —” She broke off as Kasumi and Nodoka entered the room (the Saotome matriarch, at least, was properly dressed) with plates and silverware, and the two teens hurried over to relieve the women of their loads.

/oOo\

Ranma was puzzled, enough that she was simply picking at her food (though the fact that she didn’t really _need_ to eat any longer, except to enjoy the taste of Kasumi’s masterpieces, made that easy). Something was going on — something between Kasumi and Shampoo — and she didn’t understand what it was. The red-haired and -furred succubus glanced at the eldest Tendo out of the corner of her eye, the older girl sitting demurely at her usual place at the table ... still dressed in nothing but an apron, and glancing at Xian Pu out of the corner of _her_ eye. If Ranma didn’t know better, she would think that Kasumi was actually making a play at the purple-haired Amazon. But that couldn’t be it, not Kasumi! Though the way Nabiki and Mom ... and ‘Auntie’ were watching her ... and it had all the earmarks of the way a parade of girls had come on to _him_ before —

She looked up across the room as the outside door to the koi pond slid open, revealing the filthy, exhausted figures of Genma and Soun, with the tiny, gnarled, gnome-like Happosai sitting on the Tendo patriarch’s shoulder and one arm braced on the top of his head.

Ranma was impressed by Kasumi’s reaction speed. In spite of the Tendo’s lack of training, she instantly shoved herself back from the table, sprang to her feet, and spun around to race from the family room deeper into the house at a full run. The succubus didn’t think that the fathers and the old pervert had gotten more than a few seconds’ view of Kasumi at all, and that mostly of her shapely bare backside and slim legs disappearing through the doorway. Ranma wasn’t sure she could have reacted faster from a standing, or in this case sitting, start herself (not that she’d admit it).

As Kasumi’s flashing heels vanished through the doorway, Ranma turned her attention back to the newcomers to find that they’d missed the older girl’s exit. They were too busy staring at the naked redhead, and the tiny horns on her head and red fur across her shoulders — the fathers in shock, the ancient gnome in knowing appreciation.

_Okay, let’s see if I figured this right,_ the succubus thought. She rose to her feet, the lightly trimmed red bush between her legs showing she wasn’t wearing anything below the waist either, and reached up to heft her breasts. “Hey, ya ol’ freak, ya want these?”

“Ranma!” a shocked Akane shouted, rising to her feet, but the succubus ignored her lover to focus on the Grandmaster of the Anything Goes school. His eyes were fixed on her offered mounds, mouth gaping slightly and a trace of drool beginning to ooze down his jaw. Giggling at the sight, she flicked her thumbs across tightening nipples. “C’mon, have a taste,” she offered, leering at her target (an expression she had been expressly ordered during her training to _never_ use, unless specifically authorized by a supervisor — the clients might have _considered_ the cosplay girls that serviced them to be sluts, but they usually didn’t like the girls _acting_ that way).

Happosai hesitated, unease flickering in his eyes, then threw away all restraint. “Sweeto!” he shouted, launching himself off Soun’s shoulder and across the room in one bounce to slam into Ranma’s chest, one arm circling each breast as he buried his face in the valley between them. Ranma held her breath, forcing herself not to knock the pervert away as his arms squeezed and he snuggled his face in the valley between her mounds. Akane was rising to her feet, expression thunderous, as the gnome’s breath tickled Ranma’s chest and his hands gripped at her nipples, and ...

The redhead was knocked back a step as a _crack_ of blinding black light blew the arguably-human limpet clamped to her chest away. The room’s shocked occupants rubbed or blinked their eyes clear to find a charred, smoking Happosai staggering to his feet on the chest of the Tendo patriarch that he had knocked over.

“Wha’d’ya know, it worked,” Ranma said, fighting the temptation to rub her breasts — she hadn’t expected the stinging backlash. “Like I thought, ya can’t leech offa whatever replaced my ki when I got changed. Ya never actually met a succubus, did ya?”

“A ... what?” a stunned Genma finally managed to get out, his gaze switching between his bizarrely changed child and his burnt, smoking master.

“A succubus, a sex demon,” Nabiki replied from where she sat, smirking. The inevitable confrontation was turning out a lot more fun than she’d expected.

“Demon ... not human?”

“Do I _look_ human?” Ranma demanded, turning in place to reveal the ‘V’ of scarlet fur running from her shoulders to the base of her flicking tail, and on down to its tip. Facing forward again, she reached up to flick at her horn buds. “An’ then there’s these,” she added, bringing out her wings and spreading them to full extension before pulling them in again. She glanced over at her Grandmaster. “But then, ya knew what the Champion was when me an’ Akane first told ya about it, didn’t ya?”

“Yes, m’girl, I did,” Happosai agreed nonchalantly. “Though I must admit that the loss of your ki came as an unpleasant surprise, how unfair of fate to deprive an old man of one of his few remaining joys! Still,” he added with a leer at a suddenly paling Akane, “there are plenty of other fish in the sea.”

Ranma stepped between them, dark energy coruscating around her clenched fists. “No.”

“No?” The gnome looked over at the stiff figures of Xian Pu and Nabiki.

“No.”

“No.” Happosai glanced up as Kasumi reentered the room, without her ever-present apron and still fastening the top buttons of her house dress. His eyes sharpened and he started to grin, but then shook his head with a sigh. “No, I suppose not. Still, there are plenty of other dainties to be found in the district —”

“Nerima is mine. Take yer perverted little games somewhere else.”

“I _did_ say that I could pursue my harmless little pleasures anywhere, didn’t I?” Happosai, mused. He leaped from Soun’s chest up to sit on Genma’s shoulder. “I’ll admit that it would be a relief to get away from these two pathetic losers, knowing that I’m leaving behind a true student. Though there’s much I could teach you about the new joys you’ve discovered....” He chuckled at the horrified, disgusted looks on Ranma and Akane’s faces. “Not that either, hmm? Very well, it isn’t exactly foundational to the School, anyway.”

Sobering, he gazed at Ranma for a long moment. “Still,” he continued, “there _is_ one way you have yet to prove yourself worthy of the title of Master, one that neither of these fools have mastered — a Master is not just one that has mastered his School, but one that can teach it to others. Your few attempts in that have been almost as pitiful as those of these two. _This_ fool —” he rapped the top of Genma’s head with his pipe “— was lucky to have you for a student, or you’d be dead. _That_ fool —” pointing his pipe at Soun, now sitting up “— dove into the world’s longest pity party after his wife’s death. Not only can’t he teach, he’s sorely in need of more retraining than I can be bothered to provide.” Happosai flipped up to perch on top of Genma’s head and grinned at Ranma. “So, _girl_ , do you think you can do a better job?”

Ranma crossed her arms under her bare breasts and bared her teeth back. “Ya know it!” she asserted confidently.

“Then prove it. I’ll take myself off on a vacation for a year, and when I get back you can show me what you’ve done with _one_ student. If I like what I see, I’ll give you your certificate.”

“You’re on!” Ranma agreed. “Akane will —” She stumbled to a stop. “Oh, right, it can’t be Akane.”

“ _Why not?_ ” his lover shouted angrily from she’d been standing, listening to the exchange. She stomped over to glare down at the redhead. “I’m good enough!”

“Yeah, ya are, but you’re also pregnant, pretty soon you’ll be a growin’ girl,” Ranma replied.

“ _I_ ... Oh, right.” Akane blushed.

Ranma sighed. “Don’t worry ‘bout it,” she said softly, “we’ll train as much as we can, just means I can’t use ya fer this.”

Akane nodded, eyes dropping. “Sorry,” she murmured.

Ranma pulled her into a hug. “Not a problem,” she whispered.

Kasumi smiled at the embracing couple, before looking over at the fathers and giggling for a moment — Genma was frozen in place, eyes wide, and her father had fallen back in a faint. “Grandfather, I’ll do it,” she said quietly.

The room went still.

Kasumi glanced around at the frozen people all around, giggling again at the sight of Ranma and Akane still locked in their embrace, frozen in place with their faces turned to stare at her.

“My, the caterpillar truly _is_ turning into a butterfly, isn’t she?” Happosai murmured. In a louder tone, he said, “Yes, you would be perfect, a true test of Ranma’s skill.”

“Hold it, time out!” Nabiki shouted, jerking up to her feet. “Let’s talk about this for a moment.” She stalked over to grab her older sister’s elbow and pulled her out the door and down the hall to the kitchen.

As soon as they were in the center of Kasumi’s empire, Nabiki whirled to face her older sister. “There are a lot of easier ways to get into Shampoo’s bed than this,” she growled. “We’re talking about a solid year! What if you and Shampoo only last a few weeks?”

Blushing furiously, Kasumi wildly shook her head. “No, it’s not that! Well, a little, I heard the last of your conversation,” she admitted, “but there’s more to it. The Art can open up a whole other world to me, not even beyond our dojo — it’ll come here. It already has, with the Saotomes here, but with this I won’t be just an observer anymore.”

Nabiki paused, mouth open. Finally, she closed her mouth to gaze searchingly at the young woman that had finished raising her. “You really want this?” she asked.

Kasumi nodded, eyes dropping. “Yes.”

Nabiki sighed. “It would be a lot easier to put an ad up on a singles website — I’d even do the background checks for you — but if it’s what you want, I’ll do what I can.”

“Thank you,” Kasumi whispered, then abruptly hugged Nabiki.

Nabiki stiffened, then hesitantly returned the embrace for a moment before pushing Kasumi away (blushing faintly as she realized her sister hadn’t taken the time to put on a bra — she’d found herself disturbingly aware of that sort of thing since her couple of evenings ‘feeding’ Ranma). “Okay, okay, no need to get all mushy,” she groused, but couldn’t keep a smile from briefly crossing her face. “Let’s get back before Ranma gets into a brawl with the old letch and destroys the place.”

The tableau was essentially unchanged when they walked back into the family room, except that Nodoka and Xian Pu had risen to their feet where they had sat, and Ranma and Akane had broken their embrace and were standing beside each other and holding hands. The two were smirking at Ranma’s father, who was determinedly _not_ looking at his naked ‘daughter’ and her lover — or her mother.

All eyes turned to the pair of Tendos. “Well?” Happosai asked brusquely, then brightened when Kasumi shyly nodded. “Wonderful! Now I must be off — another ward to seek out, full of soft, beautiful, silky darlings and sweet women eager to be embraced!” And with that, he threw himself off of his student, bounced out the door, and was gone.

The room was silent for a long minute, before Genma finally said, “Well, boy, we have one year —”

“It’s _girl_ , and _I_ have one year,” Ranma interrupted, voice hard. She let go of Akane’s hand and stepped forward, instinctively bringing out her wings and spreading them out to full extension between Genma and Kasumi. “If ya think I’m lettin’ ya anywhere near _my_ students —”

A groan interrupted her rant, and she furled her wings as everyone looked over at Soun. He was sitting up, his hand to his forehead. He looked up at his youngest daughter. “You’re ... you’re pregnant?” he asked.

Akane nodded, glowering at him. “Yes!” she said shortly.

Genma brightened. “That’s right! Soun, old friend, the schools will be joined!” He reached down to pull Soun to his feet. “Come, this calls for a celebration!”

“But ...” Soun tried to protest. “But ... But ...”

Ignoring his friend’s sputtering protests, Genma pushed him from the room out into the yard and around the house for the front gate, and the two were gone, leaving the rest flabbergasted behind them.

“Well ... _that_ was interesting,” Nabiki finally said, “and a lot easier than I expected that to go. That _does_ call for a celebration. Why don’t we all take the afternoon off, and catch an early dinner out before ‘Ranko’ goes to work? My treat,” she added, when everyone but Kasumi looked at her suspiciously. _I can use the afternoon to arrange Shampoo’s Japanese lessons, call Kuno when we get back, and talk to Ranma about paying me back for the week’s food tomorrow when she wakes up — Akane will be starting school again, so she’ll be out of the loop._


	28. An Early Start

Ranma sighed with relief as she jogged toward to the discreet entrance used by employees and residents of her new place of work. She’d missed the first subway train she’d needed, and she didn’t think being late for her first real day (evening) of work would make a good impression.

Besides, she was looking forward to both the work and the energy it would give her to test her new limits and abilities.

Stopping in front if the entrance, she pressed the button the side of the door and waited. After a few moments, she heard the door click, pulled it open, and stepped in, greeted one of the security guards she’d been introduced to earlier, and dashed for the employee waiting room.

/\

“Ranko, you made it — barely. Good for you,” a middle-aged brunette said when the short redhead hurried through the door, without looking up from her desktop monitor where she sat at a desk against one wall. “Everyone, this is Ranko, the latest to join our happy club.”

The girls on the couches and chairs scattered around the large room that hadn’t already looked up at Ranma’s entrance glanced over at the announcement. A few waved.

“Ranko,” Chika continued, “Miura-san wants to see you in her office for a few minutes before you start.”

“What about my first client?” Ranma asked.

“He’s called to say he’s been delayed, so you have time. Change into the naughty schoolgirl uniform before seeing what Miura-san wants, and when she’s done with you go to schoolroom C to wait for him.”

“Schoolroom C, got it,” Ranma replied, and dashed for the door across the room that led to the changing room with its lockers and showers.

/\

“Come in.”

Ranma stepped into Ayano’s office, to find her employer seated behind her desk busily typing away at her desktop computer. In one of the chairs in front of the desk, a teenage girl — even smaller than Ranma and with much smaller breasts even in proportion to her size, with frizzy black hair and a too-serious expression — turned in her seat to look at the newcomer, and Ranma’s soul sight kicked in. She’d found that it tended to do that, the first time she really focused on someone when meeting them for the first time. This time, the mix of swirling, translucent white and black seemed about the same as Akane’s, perhaps a bit more white, though the pattern was decidedly different — much more like Kasumi’s. _I wonder if that has anything ta do with her potential for violence?_ Ranma thought as she took the moment needed to close the door behind her to suppress the soul sight again. If she was right, training the eldest Tendo was going to be even more difficult than she’d thought....

Shaking off the moment of introspection, the redhead bowed to Ayano. “Ya wanted ta see me?” she asked.

“Ranko, yes,” Ayano replied, and waved to the empty chair beside the other girl.

Ranma sat, and Ayano belatedly looked up and smiled at what she saw. “Looking cute,” she remarked.

Ranma struck a pose, hands clasped in front of her, shoulders slumped slightly, eyes downcast. “Fill-in-the-blank-sensei, this class is so hard, would it be possible for you to give me ... private tutoring?” she begged, glancing out of the corner of her eye to catch the faint smile flash across the new girl’s face.

Ayano chuckled, before she continued, “Ranko-chan, I want you to meet Teruyo-chan. She’s been here for a few months, and we’ve found that while she isn’t in great demand from our clients, she excels at tutoring — so she’s going to be your study partner.”

“Study partner?” Ranma asked, confused. “I thought we were gonna wait a bit before I really get inta the schoolwork.”

Ayano shrugged. “We were. But thanks to your training and final test Isoruko-san doubts that your popularity is going to fade much — if at all — and he suggested that we not bother to wait for more free time that isn’t going to come. So you are going to need to arrive here two hours earlier than planned to study. If that isn’t enough, we’ll simply have to decrease your work hours for more time and take advantage of the occasional cancellation and no-show.”

At that, Ranma broke off her instant protest — coming two hours earlier wasn’t going to leave her with much time for Akane, but ... _Nabiki sounded like we’re_ really _gonna need the money,_ she mused. _It’ll just be fer the school year, then Akane’ll be done and the baby’ll be here, an’ I’ll be able ta focus on gettin’ her back in shape and trainin’ her more._ “All right, I’ll do it,” Ranma agreed, then stood. “Nice meetin’ ya, Teruyo-san,” she said to the other girl, who nodded back shyly. “I’ll see ya tomorrow, but I gotta git — got a client comin’ in any time now. Right?” she belatedly asked Ayano.

The madam laughed and waved her away. “Yes, that was all I wanted, go on, you can get to know Teruyo-chan tomorrow over a textbook.”

Ranma grinned and waved on her way out the door.

Behind her, Teruyo watched her leave, bemused. “Well, she’s certainly ... exuberant,” she said cautiously, so softly Ayano could barely hear her.

“I know, not much like the usual new girl, is she?” Ayano agreed. “Thanks for agreeing to the extra hours to help her out.”

“You’re paying for it, so it’s hardly an imposition. Was there anything else?”

“No, go ahead, I’m sure there’ll be some girls anxious for tutoring help in the waiting room, and you may get some clients tonight.”

Teruyo rose, bowed respectfully, and hurried from the room.

Ayano gazed at the door for a moment. _Yes, that will work out nicely,_ she thought. _Not only does ‘Ranko’ get a top-notch tutor, but maybe some of her outgoing personality will wear off on Teruyo-chan, help her get over her father._ Then she shrugged and turned back to her computer.

/oOo\

Kasumi sighed as she walked toward her room, a sigh of both contentment and frustration, though she couldn’t keep a happy smile off her face. Everyone had been happy to take up Nabiki’s offer, at least insofar as taking the afternoon off was concerned, Nodoka, Ranma, Akane and Xian Pu helping her finish up the current housework. The dinner out with Ranma, Nodoka and her sisters had been wonderful (Xian Pu had begged off without giving a reason), but in the hours before then Kasumi had had an unpleasant lesson about her life — if she wasn’t cooking, cleaning, shopping or doing the laundry or yard work, she didn’t know what to _do_ with herself. Sure, when the day was done she enjoyed reading her romances for a bit before she turned out the lights, but she’d had _hours_ of free time before dinner.

Ranma, it turned out, had the same problem. She’d looked a little lost when Akane insisted that her lover was _not_ going back out to the dojo to work on her katas after lunch. But Akane had come through, digging into the back of a closet for some of the board games the three sisters had played together before their differing interests had pulled them apart, and they’d roped in Nodoka and Xian Pu for fifth and sixth players. The games had been rather simplistic of course, the sisters had been years younger when they’d last pulled them out, but playing them had kicked off a wonderful ‘remember when’ session. Even Nodoka had contributed, some of the games had been around when _she_ had been a child.

And then dressing up a bit (and for Kasumi, putting on a bra to go with the fitted dress she rarely wore, the sleeveless one that only went down to mid-thigh) and the early dinner, at an actual restaurant rather than fast food.  (Kasumi frowned for a moment, Nabiki was being entirely too nice, she was up to something — still, whatever it was the young Tendo matriarch wasn’t going to figure it out tonight.)  And as a special miracle, none of the chaos that seemed to follow Ranma around had interfered.

And then they had come home, Nodoka had settled in down in the family room to polish the Saotome family blade, Ranma had left for work, Akane had gone to see her friends for a new-school-year’s-eve get-together, Nabiki had holed up in her room, and Kasumi still had hours to go before bedtime — and no work to occupy it. _I suppose I could simply pull out some of the romances I’ve already finished,_ Kasumi thought as she opened her bedroom door, stepped through ... and froze, eyes going wide at the sight of the figure stretched out on her bed.

Xian Pu lay on her side, her lush naked body on display, one leg cocked to give Kasumi a full view of her trimmed purple bush and the already faintly glistening folds of her cleft. The Amazon smiled at Kasumi’s shocked expression, then swung her legs over and stood up, hands rising to lift her large breasts as unbound purple hair cascaded about her shoulders and down her back. “After too too good show Kasumi give in morning, Shampoo think right to return favor. Kasumi like what see?”

Kasumi nodded, still speechless.

“This morning, Kasumi offer self to Shampoo?”

Kasumi nodded again, cheeks turning a fiery red.

Xian Pu’s smile widened, and beckoned. “Good. Come here.”

Feeling as if she had suddenly found herself in one of her novels — almost, one detail didn’t fit — Kasumi closed the door, then walked slowly forward.

As soon as she was within arm’s reach, Xian Pu released her breasts and reached out to cup Kasumi’s cheeks, rising on tiptoe and pressing her breasts against Kaumi’s as she gently kissed the older girl on the lips. Dropping back down, she smiled again. “Shampoo thought maybe wait little little time, let Kasumi chase, but tomorrow Kasumi start training, be too too sore, tired, not want anything but hot soak, bed. Same next day, day after, maybe weeks if work hard. So before pain, Shampoo and Kasumi have fun tonight.”

Kasumi finally found her voice, sort of. “Shampoo, I ... I ...” She took a deep breath even as she fought for the calm that was her usual state, the confidence that had carried her into her first time with Ranma. She was facing the major difference between what was happening and the romance novels that had helped guide that night. “I don’t know what to do,” she whispered.

“Really no know?” Xian Pu asked, voice husky as one hand circled the eldest Tendo. Fingers found the zipper at the back of Kasumi’s dress, and slowly pulled it down. She stood up on tiptoes again and breathed in Kasumi’s ear,

“Too too loud scream first night with Ranma say different.”

Kasumi’s felt the room grow even hotter as her blush deepened, sweeping down her neck and disappearing under the collar of her dress. “Th-that time R-Ranma was male,” she stammered. “A-and he was mostly in charge.” Voice falling to almost a whisper, she added, “And my romances don’t have two women, just women with men.”

Xian Pu stepped back and giggled. Kasumi marveled at the purely girlish sound — it always amazed her, how _feminine_ the training-hardened warrior could act at times. The purple-haired girl said, “Kasumi _really_ learn how pleasure male-type Ranma from romances?”

By now, Kasumi was wondering if she was going to faint, she felt so hot from her blush. She nodded.

“Maybe Shampoo use romances practice reading,” the teenager said. “So, how far down Mother of All red?”

Kasumi’s eyes widened at the new title the Amazon had bestowed on her, but her wonder vanished as Xian Pu reached up to slide her loosened dress off her shoulders, the fabric falling down her arms to pool about her waist. Even as she slipped her arms free to allow the dress to fall the rest of the way down about her ankles, her new lover reached between her breasts and a moment later her bra sprang open, swinging wide to reveal her ample breasts, nipples already crinkled tight with lust. Here at least she had no reason to be embarrassed — almost no sag, and of those girls she knew only Xian Pu and Ranma had larger.

Xian Pu brushed Kasumi’s bra straps off her shoulders, and as the bra joined the dress on the floor Kasumi shivered at the feel of fingers sliding down to run across the swell of her breasts. “Kasumi too too ... Kasumi _very_ red,” Xian Pu murmured. “Maybe see Shampoo can make more red.” Her head dipped as her hands slid down Kasumi’s sides, and Kasumi gasped as the Amazon’s mouth captured one hard nipple, tongue flicking across the cherry tip for a moment before lips closed about it, even as the wandering hands reached her waist and one slid around to grip a buttock as the fingers of the other stroked across the shaved bare skin of her mound and down between the already-damp folds of her cleft. Kasumi’s knees weakened at the feather-soft touch and she started to fall, only for Xian Pu catch her, holding her up. The teenager’s mouth pulled away from its captured breast as she straightened. “Kasumi go eat in short dress no ... _and_ no panties?” she asked, grinning up at the brunette she was supporting. “Kasumi too too ... Kasumi _very_ careful how sit?”

Kasumi nodded. “Yes-s-s,” she stammered, even as she berated herself. _Idiot! You wanted to be something more than just a food source — wanted real_ romance _— so stop standing around letting her do all the work._ Hesitantly, she bent her head, lowering slightly parted lips toward those of the shorter girl, one hand lifting to cup a full breast as the other found the small of Xian Pu’s back.

Xian Pu sighed into the soft kiss as Kasumi’s thumb brushed across her own crinkled tight nipple, then crouched slightly and shifted her hands, one rising up along Kasumi’s back, the other circling behind her knees. Sweeping the brunette off her feet, she swung around to drop her on her bed, then hopped onto the bed beside her. “Shampoo understand Kasumi too too ... very nervous, but Shampoo also think move too slow.” Leaning over, she again kissed Kasumi, and this time there was nothing gentle about it. Kasumi gasped at the intense, hungry pressure of her new lover’s lips, and Xian Pu’s probing tongue slipped through parted lips into Kasumi’s mouth, instantly sliding, circling, thrusting — so very different from Ranma’s gentle attentions that first night.

Kasumi moaned in delight, her arms instinctively circling the Amazon as their tongues dueled, and Xian Pu chuckled as she broke the kiss. “Shampoo think Kasumi like that,” she murmured, before leaning back down, and Kasumi groaned as the Amazon trailed kisses along her jaw, down her throat, her collarbone, hard enough that the motherly Tendo _knew_ there was going to be no way to cover up the inevitable hickies. _Especially in a gi,_ she thought, just before soft lips captured a nipple at the same time as she felt a hand pushing her legs apart. Her thoughts scattered as a finger again slipped between her slick folds, this time pushing into her, as deep as it could reach. She yelped, her hips bucking as the probing finger hit an especially sensitive spot.

She felt the vibrations of Xian Pu’s chuckle through the lips suckling at her breast, the jolt of pleasure causing her to twitch and moan, then the purple-haired girl abruptly released her mouthful and sat up, spun around and swung a leg across Kasumi’s chest to straddle the older girl, then leaned down. For a second Kasumi found herself enjoying a close-up view of Xian Pu’s engorged and dripping folds between spread legs, the patch of purple hair damp, before she felt lips and tongue licking and sucking at her own cleft.

For a time Kasumi lost herself in the rising pleasure of Xian Pu’s experienced attentions, her hands clutching at her bed sheets, the other girl’s arms wrapped around her thighs to hold herself against undulating hips.  Kasumi’s moans, cries, and demands for more filled the air, driven by the sensations radiating out through her, each pulse stronger than the last, until at last Xian Pu’s tongue flicked across her clit, the dam burst, and she _shrieked_ at the wave of pleasure smashing through her, the world going white.

/\

When she was finally aware of herself again, she found herself looking at Xian Pu smiling down at her, the Amazon’s lower face wet with her juices and purple hair cascading down to frame the two girls’ faces. “Oh, my!” Kasumi gasped out, between pants for breath. That had been _spectacular_!  Even better than Ranma on the first night, _much_ better than the second time.

“Good to know Shampoo no lose touch,” the now grinning teenager said. “But Mother of All not take hint — Shampoo put legs where did for reason.”

Kasumi stared at her, confused, before her mind flashed back to the view — the _very close_ view — she’d had of Xian Pu’s wet cleft, the strong scent of arousal, and she blushed as she realized just what the other girl had expected. “I-I-I’m sorry —” she stammered, before she was cut off by Xian Pu’s lips on hers.

After a moment the purple-haired girl drew back, leaving Kasumi gazing up at dark eyes as she savored the flavor of her own juices, familiar from many a masturbating session. “It not your fault,” Xian Pu said after a moment. “Mother of All new to this fun, still learning.”

On impulse, Kasumi reached up one hand to cup the back of Xian Pu’s head and gently pull her back down. Xian Pu closed her eyes with a sigh as Kasumi gently cleaned her face with kisses and licks. Finished, Kasumi whispered in her ear, “Please don’t call me that right now — later is fine, but right now it just doesn’t _feel_ right.”

“Oh ... right. Shampoo no think —” Xian Pu started to say, blushing at the hint at incest, only to be cut off by a kiss full on her lips.

“And now it’s _your_ turn,” Kasumi asserted, before grabbing Xian Pu around the shoulders and rolling the two over so she was on top.

As the two rolled, Kasumi’s leg slipped between the Amazon’s legs, and Xian Pu sucked in a breath when the Tendo’s thigh slipped along juices-slicked skin and the wet bush of the Amazon’s pubic mound. Kasumi paused for a moment, then shifted to again rub her thigh along Xian Pu’s slippery folds.

The friction pulled a faint, breathy shriek from Xian Pu as she arched her back, pressing her cleft harder against Kasumi’s leg. “Kasumi find first position warriors learn ... when wrestling,” she gasped out. “But not get it very right ... need _this_.” Cupping her hands over the older girl’s butt, she shifted her hips, _pulled_ , and it was Kasumi’s turn to gasp as her own equally wet cleft and bare mound were mashed against Xian Pu’s thigh. The Amazon undulated her hips, and Kasumi moaned at the feel of her thigh and cleft rubbing against Xian Pu’s. “Kasumi do same,” the warrior ordered.

_Oh, right._ Kasumi blushed as she realized that she’d gone passive again. Awkwardly, she shifted her position atop Xian Pu, trying to brace herself and keep her weight off the other girl, moaning from the pleasure that pulsed through her as she moved — sometimes.

After an increasingly frustrating minute, Kasumi realized that her lover wasn’t moaning oddly, or gasping from pleasure, she was laughing ... well, giggling. Finally, Xian Pu’s hands clamped down on her buttocks, bringing her to a stop. “Important lesson for student,” the Amazon whispered in Kasumi’s ear, “when don’t know what doing, stop, ask teacher. Maybe teacher help, maybe make student figure out herself, but unless teacher total bitch asking can’t hurt. And battle sister no bitch — Akane, maybe, but no Ranma.”

Kasumi could feel her face heat — she was turning red again, and it wasn’t because of passion. “Uhm ... help?” she asked.

“Shampoo be happy to. Sit up.”

Kasumi levered herself upright, swinging her legs around and leaning back to brace herself upright on her arms, and Xian Pu lifted one leg. “Slip leg under,” she ordered. Kasumi shifted her right leg underneath, and the Amazon sat up. “Lift other leg.” Kasumi raised her left leg as instructed, and gave out a shuddering gasp as Xian Pu shifted her right leg underneath and scooted herself forward to mash her purple patch of hair against Kasumi’s own shaved mound. The teenager leaned back to hold herself up with her own arms as she undulated her hips, shuddering at the sensation and drawing another drawn-out moan from Kasumi. “Mother of — Kasumi do same,” she ordered. As the older brunette followed suit, rubbing their clefts together, Xian Pu supported herself on one arm while rubbing furiously at her clit, her fingers quickly coated with both girls’ juices. A rising tide of gasps, moans, cries and demands for more filled the room, as a wet spot spread across the bed sheets beneath their joined crotches.

Finally, Xian Pu’s extra attention bore fruit, and her arm gave way and dumped her back onto the bed as she shrieked out the pleasure of the orgasm that ripped through her.

A sweat-coated Kasumi stopped undulating her hips when Xian Pu did and stared gasping at the teenager, the Amazon’s back arched, eyes closed and mouth gaping open as she sucked in deep breath.  The older girl shifted around to lay down beside Xian Pu, fingers idly playing with one of her lover’s breasts as she closed her eyes and sucked in her own deep breaths.

After a moment she felt feather-light touches along her wet, burning folds. Her legs seemed to separate of their own will, and the fingers easily slipped past well-lubricated nether lips to sink into her cleft as deep as they could go and began to pump.

Even as her hips began to thrust upward of their own accord she felt a wet touch pushing against her mouth. She parted her lips and the fingers of Xian Pu’s other hand slipped inside, tasting of the same familiar flavor she had licked off the Amazon’s face earlier, along with another subtle flavor mixed in—similar, but different enough to be distinct. That mix of tastes seemed to explode in her mouth, flash down to tingle in her jiggling breasts and on down to her burning cleft. Her vaginal muscles clamped down on pumping fingers as her own orgasm erupted and she shouted, her clenched shut eyes leaking tears as wave after wave washed through her.

Finally, as the last echoes faded she felt the fingers slip from her cleft to draw a damp line up along her stomach then drawing a circle spiraling up one breast to tweak a tightened, protruding nipple.  She levered herself up and turned to smile down at the purple-haired teenager. “That was wonderful, thank you,” she murmured.

Xian Pu grinned back up at her, the hand playing with Kasumi’s nipple shifting to grasp the full breast and gently squeeze. “Shampoo not think Kasumi know word ‘fuck’,” she said, then giggled as Kasumi turned red and added, “We not done yet.” She giggled again as Kasumi’s eyes widened. “Hours yet before Kasumi need sleep, be ready for tomorrow. By then, Kasumi ... by then _you_ know all basics, just need to practice ... often.” Her hand released the breast it was pleasuring to slip around Kasumi’s back and pull her down on top of the Amazon. “Xian Pu think ... I think we start with position called sixty-nine, and this time you get right,” she murmured.

/oOo\

_Earlier:_

Nodoka sighed happily as she knelt by the low table in the Tendo family room, placed the box with her cleaning supplies on the table’s surface, and started to unwrap the Saotome Family blade — her first day back, the games, dinner, all of it, had been _wonderful_. True, seeing her former ‘daughter’ walking around naked, with a tail, horns, and a strip of fur down her back to match the trimmed bush between her legs was taking some getting used to. True, she didn’t really approve of Kasumi’s blatant pursuit of Xian Pu. But Ranma’s appearance and attitude was helping the Saotome matriarch accept that the redhead was no longer human, with different needs and drives, and Kasumi was her own woman and a Tendo — Nodoka was _not_ going to repeat the mistake she had made with her son by trying to force the young woman into her own mold of the perfect woman. (Though she was deeply disturbed that Kasumi _already_ fit her mold of a perfect woman and was apparently eager to break out of it.)

Katana unwrapped, Nodoka drew it from its scabbard, and gasped as she saw the blade. Rust! There was actually rust on the blade! It was only a few light spots, but she had cleaned the blade just ... _Just weeks ago, the day Ranma announced he was now a lesbian. Have you really let yourself go this badly?_ She stared for a long moment at the evidence that apparently she had, then sighed before resheathing the blade. She would need to get some water to dampen the sandpaper before she continued.

She had just resumed her seat and was laying out the rice paper, powder ball, small bottle of oil, sandpaper and small bowl of water when the first sounds from Kasumi’s bedroom directly above drifted through the ceiling.

/\

Nodoka paused in gently rubbing the damp sandpaper over a spot of rust on the blade in her hand, glancing up at the ceiling as Kasumi’s latest pleasure-filled shriek echoed through the house — that _had_ to be the climax. At least, the _first_ climax, she doubted it would be the last. The Saotome matriarch sighed as she remembered an evening weeks earlier, when it had been her self-declared daughter whose scream she had heard — and how that scream had disturbed her so badly that she had run away rather than stay and face the implications of Ranma’s decision. How she had failed her child. _No more._

A sound in the hall drew her attention, to find a disgruntled Nabiki stalking through the doorway, changed from her semi-formal dress back into a tight T-shirt and high-cut shorts, a laptop in one hand. “I swear, she’s even louder than little sis and Ranma,” the pageboy-haired brunette grumbled as she plugged in her computer. She plopped down on the other side of the table, glanced at Nodoka’s cleaning supplies taking up the tabletop, then sighed as she scooted back slightly so she could partially support her computer on her crossed legs.

“Perhaps they are nearly finished now?” Nodoka offered, voice slightly breathy with the effort of fighting back a giggle. Nabiki’s room was right next to Kasumi’s (right between both Kasumi on one side and Ranma and Akane on the other, now that she thought of it), and the walls weren’t very thick at all — if Kasumi was that loud through the floor, the middle Tendo must have been getting a _serious_ earful. It wasn’t really _that_ funny. It wasn’t.

Nabiki looked suspiciously at the older woman, then sighed again. “No, as repressed as Kasumi’s been, now that she’s letting go she’s going to be going for _hours_. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wears out Shampoo-kun. I don’t think that girl realizes just what she’s gotten herself into.” Smirking, she added, “But at least it won’t be three solid weeks — with big sis starting training tomorrow, she isn’t going to be able to even _think_ of sex for weeks, maybe months! Though you had better plan on getting up early tomorrow to handle breakfast. I doubt big sis will be up to it, and you don’t want to eat my cooking, much less _Akane’s_.”

Sounds started coming through the ceiling again, and Nabiki glanced up with a grimace. “Sounds like it’s Shampoo’s turn.”

Nodoka resumed smoothing away the rust from her neglected blade. “As you say, it is only for the one night before her training starts, then you’ll have weeks of peace.” _Maybe_. Personally, she suspected the middle Tendo was being unreasonably optimistic. Of course, hope only became useful when it was unreasonable....

“Yeah.” Nabiki listened for a moment longer, then sighed and set aside her laptop. “So what are we going to do about the fathers?” she asked. “We have a happy little mix going here, and they don’t exactly fit. The fact Akane’s pregnant will help for awhile, but Genma isn’t going to take it well when he finds out you declared Ranma a ronin.”

“True.” Nodoka lifted the blade, examining it closely. That seemed to have taken care of the rust. She picked up one of the sheets of rice paper, folded it about the blade, and ran it from the fuchi to the tip. Even as she picked up the powder ball and began to tap it every few inches along the blade’s length, she thought furiously. She could _not_ have those two fools disturbing Ranma and Akane — the two might not be married, and Ranma was now ronin, but their baby was still _her_ grandchild and could not be endangered by the men’s shenanigans. “Ranma and Akane are a rather ... physically affectionate ... couple, wouldn’t you say?” she asked slowly.

Nabiki stared at her. Certainly, the lovebirds had been on their best behavior both at home and in public the one day Nodoka had been back, and certainly, how well they were getting along since Ranma’s acceptance of Akane’s terms was nigh miraculous, and certainly, they were more touchy with each other at home, but —

“And my ... and Ranma is very stubborn,” Nodoka continued, apparently oblivious to the middle Tendo’s disbelief. She picked up another piece of rice paper and began to carefully rub over the powder on the blade. “I don’t suppose she will be any more willing to cover up or keep to a more human form at home now that the fathers have returned than she was before. Between their obvious intimacy and Ranma’s state of undress and lack of humanity, I imagine Genma and Soun will be distinctly uncomfortable at home.”

_Oh._ Nabiki felt stupid, a sensation that was both rare and unwelcome. “An excellent point,” she agreed, looking appropriately serious. “You’re right, I don’t see Ranma backing down. And then there’s their inevitable interference in Kasumi’s training — Ranma’s response to that could be ... expensive. Even more so than the wedding fiasco. But where would they stay if not here?”

“There’s my home,” Nodoka suggested, “Its repairs to the damage from the fiancées visit are almost finished. We would need to arrange for someone to see to the cooking and occasional cleaning, but I believe they would find the atmosphere there much more ... congenial.”

Nabiki suppressed a wince. More yen down the drain. _Ranma, you had better be_ very _popular with your clients._ “That sounds doable, if things turn out to be too ... uncomfortable for the fathers,” she replied, careful to keep a straight face. “But perhaps it won’t be necessary. I’ll have to have a talk with Ranma and little sis about proper behavior at home.”

“Of course,” Nodoka agreed, just as solemnly straight-faced.

Both glanced toward the ceiling at particularly loud squeals from the bedroom above, then simultaneously sighed before Nodoka focused again on wiping her blade free of powder to ready it for its preserving coat of oil while Nabiki picked up her laptop.


	29. It's a Job

Mara finished reading the last report from the low-level demons paying off their favors to her by keeping an eye on Ranma, closed it and moved it to join Ranma’s file in the folder she’d created for the assignment in her personal account on Nidhogg, then leaned back in her office chair, closed her eyes, and let out a long stream of varied and creative profanity in a long-dead language.  It didn’t accomplish anything, of course, but it did help her feel better — a little.

_Okay, let’s think this through.  Just as I expected, the Opposition is grabbing the opportunity with both hands — every single watcher I’ve sent has ended up with a double, so there’s no way I can get my hooks in her by making a deal.  Though I’m not sure why they’re bothering, now that they’ve shot down my original plan.  From Ranma’s file, she would laugh in my face as soon as I say anything remotely like ‘Let’s make a deal’.  Thanks a lot, Nabiki — now_ there’s _a girl with potential.  So if Ranma can’t be co-opted, she’ll have to be neutralized.  But_ that _isn’t going to be much easier._

She rubbed at tired eyes as she ran down the list of people in the area that owed her favors (mortal or supernatural; no Infernal worth asking owed her a big enough favor to take on Lind, but the Valkyrie would stay out of any purely Earthborn confrontation).  Then she ran down the list of those that she could offer a favor, then the list of those that wouldn’t attack her on sight, growing more depressed with the addition of each new list.  Yes, as a newborn succubus Ranma was as weak and inexperienced as she was ever going to be, but for someone of her innate talent and previous experience that wasn’t saying much.  The ones actually had the power and skill to take on Ranma would either be just as happy to attack Mara or blow her off (depending on how intelligent they were), or were twisted enough that she had absolutely no desire to go through what they would demand for a favor this big.  And she couldn’t bring in talent from outside Japan.  The self-styled Queen of the Succubae was out, over the past few centuries she’d focused on seduction and influence rather than brute force.  And while those mercenaries that did have the brute force needed weren’t all as twisted as the local variety, the favor she’d owe whoever she recruited would be even greater — especially since, just like Mara, they would also have to deal with the local self-appointed ‘protectors of humanity’.

_Of course, ideally I could maneuver some of the self-declared ‘Defenders of Humanity’ into attacking her_ , Mara mused.  _The ones that would attack_ me _on sight are just as likely to attack_ Ranma _on sight._   Okay, that was an exaggeration.  Most of the self-righteous hypocrites that claimed to be the first line of defense against the forces of Hell that were actually powerful enough to take down Ranma knew the difference between earth demons and the denizens of Hell, and were likely to do some investigation before charging in.  But not all — and even for those that were, if it looked like _Ranma_ was out of control, an immediate threat to mortals, even they might rush things.  So if she could induce Ranma to attack someone, preferably with lethal force in a loud, public way, maybe some of the newborn’s natural allies would solve Mara’s problem for her (Hild’s problem, really, but in this case Hild’s problem was Mara’s problem).

The problem with that, though, was that the new succubus was keeping an unusually low profile, sticking pretty much to the dojo and the brothel she had decided to use as her personal buffet — probably because she _was_ a new succubus, and still feeling out just what she was capable of.  And the trips between the two places weren’t much better.  Even the greenest demon hunter — which any capable of taking Ranma definitely weren’t — was going to attack someone on a crowded train, and Ranma was flying home afterward.  And in neither case was Ranma likely to run into someone she might be tempted to actually kill, not even the gropers on the trains.  At this point Ranma was more likely to enjoy the latter than object, anyway.

_Wait a minute!_   Mara bolted upright at a sudden thought.  _That brothel, there wasn’t any mention of it being affiliated with any of the yakuza!_   Face intent, she brought Ranma’s file back up.  She’d remembered correctly, it _wasn’t_ affiliated with any of Tokyo’s gangs, just how had that been managed?  It wasn’t because it was too small and poor to bother with, that was for sure, not with _that_ amount and type of clientele.  There had to be _some_ form of patronage...

/\

Hours later, she leaned back, frowning thoughtfully.  It had taken a _lot_ of digging, but she’d finally found the apparently nameless brothel’s patron, the Director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Organized Crime Department.  And he took that relationship seriously — over the years there had been a few surprise crackdowns of the yakuza in the brothel’s neighborhood, personally ordered by the director for no apparent reason.

Now, the question was what to do with that information.  There might be an opportunity there, having a single individual for the patron providing protection was a definite weakness.  The problem was what to do about it.  Any attempt to blow it up into a scandal was likely to fail, for the same reason that it had taken her so long to find him — whatever his relationship to the brothel’s madam was, it wasn’t monetary, nor was he sampling the brothel’s services.  And without either of those, the chances of anyone believing that someone of his upright reputation was covering for a brothel were unlikely at best.

_Still, it’s more than I had before.  So what now?_

For a moment, as always, Mara considered calling in the favor her kinda-half-sister owed her, work Urd into whatever plan she came up with.  Urd’s Redemption had been absurdly easy — Mara believed that the favor owed her was the only outstanding debt her sister had, thanks to her decision to accept her father as a patron rather than her mother — and Mara was always tempted to drag Urd into helping her little schemes just to play with her.  But resisting the temptation was easier than usual this time.  The favor Urd owed her wasn’t all _that_ big, and Mara suspected that this one was going to get ugly.  In spite of the choice Urd had made, Mara rather liked her and _certainly_ liked partying with her.  If she forced Urd to help her _at all_ and this got as bloody as Mara hoped, Urd would never forgive her and she’d lose her favorite pub-crawling partner.  _No, best to leave it alone again ... and leave Urd wondering when I’ll call in her marker_ , Mara decided, grinning.  Besides, Urd’s willpower was probably strong enough to resist the geas, she really did tend to underestimate her own strength of mind.  And that little question in Urd’s eyes whenever they met did add a certain _frisson_ to their relationship.

The easy decision out of the way, Mara called up the list of members of the yakuza gang whose territory encompassed the brothel and ran down the names and thumbnail descriptions.  Whatever plan she came up with was going to depend on what tools she had to work with, after all.

/oOo\

Dressed in a black leather miniskirt and a black lacy bra under a sheer white blouse hemmed short enough to bare her midriff, Mara used the long mirror behind the bar she was seated at to look over the brightly-lit drinking establishment, making sure to keep the expression on her apparently barely-not-a teen face a mix of poorly hidden excitement, nervousness and boredom.  This bar was one of the more unusual watering holes in Tokyo, a hangout for both the local yakuza and college students — the students for the excitement of being around real live criminals like they’d read about in their teenage manga, and the yakuza for the opportunity to pick up barely-women.  Not all of the local yakuza of course, just like there were college students wise enough not to play with fire, but her target was one of them.

She grimaced at the thought, then forced her face back into its previous expression.  She wasn’t really looking forward to this, but it was the best plot she’d been able to come up with, considering what she had available to work with.  It certainly had the advantage of taking its time, so maybe by the time the Celestials watching Ranma figured out what was up it would be too late for them to do anything about it.  And with a little luck, her own contribution to kicking the snowball down the hill would be buried under the bodies — that would certainly help her continue to enjoy her party time with Urd.

Then her target swaggered through the door — Ito Kyoji, one of the yakuza lieutenants in charge of the gurentai.  According to his Infernal file he had dreams of being more than a manager of street thugs, but had bumped up against a _very_ low glass ceiling.  Mainly because he lacked the manners needed to support his ambitions, and was too ignorant to realize what the problem was.  _Understandable_ , Mara thought as she surreptitiously watched him scan the bar.  _Everyone he meets acts like he does so he’ll respect them, and his immediate superior is as much a street thug as he is, just more mannered with his superiors when he needs to be._

Then his gaze found her — more specifically, the rainbow-striped hair hanging down past her shoulders in shiny waves, the reason the other yakuza in the bar, knowing his tastes, hadn’t hit on her, and therefore her ostensible boredom.  His eyes lit up.  He walked toward her, and she ignored the poorly-hidden jealous and/or sympathetic looks from some of the other yakuza, apparently noticing his attention in the mirror and turning at his approach.  She lifted an eyebrow in an over-the-top movie-suave expression that shouted naiveté and looked him straight in the eye ... and opened her Sight carefully to his needs, desires, wants.  But narrowly, focused like a laser on the Now — she needed a hook but not _the_ hook, not yet.  _What do you want_ right now _?_   With the sudden clarity that she had long become accustomed to, she had her answer ... and as planned, it was her.  _Gotcha, now let’s get this over with._

/\

Mara’s eyebrows rose as she stepped past Kyoji into his apartment and looked around.  She supposed he was going for descriptors like ‘impressive’ and ‘expensive’, but the words that leaped to mind as she looked at the wall-mounted weapons and paintings, leather-covered furniture and rugs, were ‘gaudy’, ‘overdone’, ‘crowded’ and ‘incoherent’.  _Though I suppose it would be impressive to most middle-class college girls that don’t know any better yet_ , she thought.  _Speaking of which_....  “Wow!” she gushed.  “Your place is so — !”

Kyoji grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, pulled her into a partial hug, one hand pushing her blouse up to grope at a breast through the thin fabric of her bra as he mashed his mouth against hers.  His tongue probed against her lips, trying to push into her mouth, and Mara suppressed a sigh as she parted her lips to let it through.  _That answers one question.  He isn’t a sadist, just clumsy and too full of himself to actually learn from the girls he picks up — assuming any of the college girls he prefers for his one night stands know any better._

Later, leaning back on his leather couch with her blouse pushed up and bra hanging open, her miniskirt pushed up around her waist and her thong panties dangling off one ankle of her widespread legs, she managed to turn a gasp of pain into something approximating a passionate moan when he forced his engorged cock up into her barely-damp cleft.  She decided that in this case the practical difference between ‘clumsy’ and ‘sadist’ was next to nonexistent.  _Remember, you need him_ , she reminded herself as she fought to ignore the pain of his repeated thrusts.  _You_ cannot _use this little favor to force him to do something particularly humiliating.  It’s not like he’d consider this one night stand a big enough debt to properly ‘reward’ him for this, anyway...._

But she could fantasize, and so she spent the next several minutes putting on her act of a girl trying to pretend to be in the throes of passion (figuring that pretending to experience real passion would just confuse him, since she doubted any of the girls he’d picked up had ever shown him what it looked like) while coming up with increasingly bizarre and impossible ways she could make him a laughingstock and ruin his life.  Finally, she felt his seed pulse up into her sheath to ooze out around his cock.  He gave a few more thrusts before pulling out and flopping onto the couch beside her, panting for breath, his unbuttoned shirt falling open, and she reluctantly concluded that someone of his level of sexual ineptitude was _marginally_ better than a sadist or rapist.  At least she didn’t have to worry about him getting careless or lucky and killing her vessel — if he did it wouldn’t do any permanent damage and she had a few extra vessels to fall back on, but it would still _hurt_ , and recovering from the trauma would take days she didn’t have to spare.

_Okay, I have my marker and my cover as his newfound fan-slash-fuckgirl, so let’s check his ultimate hook and get this show_ really _started._

She turned her head to look at the sweat-coated man lounging on the couch beside her.  “Hey, stud,” she said, and grinned as his head turned towards her and their eyes met.  _Gotcha!_

She again opened her Sight to his soul, but this time instead of focusing on the Now she let the totality of his hopes and dreams, the future he wanted more than any other, to wash over her — and instantly realized that all the plans she’d already made for helping him climb the yakuza ‘corporate’ ladder had been so much wasted time.  She’d expected a narcissistic shark in human shape and instead found a street-tough Hunchback of Notre-Dame, and not a Gothic cathedral in sight.  The hopeless dream of the ruthless thug’s heart was to meet and woo (and bed, the two seemed rather oddly intertwined) a beautiful ‘princess’ of wealth and privilege that might see past his rough exterior and poverty-stricken origin (and current job).

_Well, shit!_ Mara thought, mind floundering as she bounced from one half-formed plan to another.  On the one hand this was a good thing, if she could pull this off the favor he would owe her would be _huge_ — she’d be able to demand practically anything she wanted in return.  On the other hand, where was she supposed to find a beautiful, wealthy girl that would allow him to court — ?

Mara suddenly remembered one image from the gallery of Ranma’s self-declared fiancées: black leotard, spinning ribbon in a cloud of rose petals, off-center pony tail, and what she could have sworn was a faint glimmer of madness in the girl’s dark eyes — a madness that was _much_ more clear in the high-pitched laugh that even through her computer station’s speakers could send a shiver up the spine.

_Yes, with a little training she will do nicely.  Unfortunately, at the moment_ he _doesn’t do at all — if he’s to have even a chance of wooing her beyond the first dinner and sex, he needs a major overhaul.  So, time to take charge._

Sighing, she rose to her feet and grabbed some tissues from a nearby table to wipe herself clean (at least he’d managed to learn _something_ about women, or more likely just wanted to be able to quickly wipe down his couch).  That done, she straightened her miniskirt, then reached behind to unzip it and let it drop to the floor.  She stepped out of it and reached up to pull her truncated blouse off over her head, threw it to the side, and shrugged her bra straps off her shoulders, letting it join her miniskirt on the floor.  She smiled at Kyoji as his eyes roamed over her naked body.  “Like what you see?” she asked, reaching up to cup her breasts, caressing her nipples with her thumbs.  (She ignored the bruises he’d left, with her Infernal healing rate they’d be gone in no time.)  Her smile broadened into a grin when he swallowed and nodded with a leer.  “Good, you’re going to become _very_ familiar with my body, what with your training.”

His leer turned into a confused frown.  “Training?” he asked.

“Training,” Mara repeated and flared her aura into the visible spectrum, the coruscating reddish orange light lighting up the apartment as her rainbow-dyed hair streamed back, seeming to blow in a nonexistent wind.

He was quick, she could give him that.  In an instant he was off the couch, crouched in a corner between a nearly empty bookcase and his television, a hand cannon gripped in both hands pointed straight at her (where _that_ came from, she had no idea).  And all while still having his pants around his ankles.  “Who are you?” he demanded.  “ _What_ are you?”

“I’m your fairy _fucking_ godmother ... lucky me,” Mara replied.  She turned to face him and let go of her breasts to clasp her hands behind her — and incidentally push her chest out, making his breath catch.  “I’m here to give you the wish of your heart.”

“I ... what?  A wish?” he asked, the barrel of his pistol dipping toward the floor in his confusion.

“Not _a_ wish, _the_ wish — to bed and woo a modern princess,” Mara replied.  “I even have a candidate in mind, though it will be a few weeks before I can introduce you to her.  Good thing, too, I’m going to need all of that time to train you to a point that she’ll spend more than one night.”

“I ... but ... you ... why?!”

“Why?  Because you’re _awful_ , that’s why!  I hate to think how many girls you’ve traumatized.  For instance, these” — she again reached up to heft her breasts — “are a woman’s breasts, not slabs of steak you are tenderizing.”

“Now just a minute!  I never had any complaints — Hold up, that’s not what I meant.  Why me?”

“Oh, that!  Not out of the goodness of my heart, believe me.”  Mara sauntered up to walk her fingers up his bare chest, ignoring the gun now hanging loosely in front of him.  “I will fulfill your wish, and _you_ will owe me a favor.  And I _will_ collect.”

“Oh.”  As she’d expected, putting the issue on a _quid pro quo_ basis clicked nicely into Kyoji’s dog-eat-dog worldview, and she could sense him relaxing.  He asked, “Can you really find someone for me?”

“Easily.  But as I said, you have some training to do first, yourself.  So put that artillery piece away and get the rest of your clothes off, and I can make a start on showing you how it’s done.”  Leaning forward, she whispered in his ear, “In the shower.”

She turned and sauntered toward the door, her walk emphasizing her firm buttocks, then glanced over her shoulder at the sound of a crash behind her and found herself fighting not to giggle.  In his eagerness to join her, Kyoji had tried to pull his pants off without taking off his shoes first, lost his balance, and pitched over into the television.  With that level of enthusiasm, maybe he was actually trainable, after all.


	30. Akane's Horrible, No Good, Really Bad Day

Akane jerked awake at the knock on her door to find, as always lately, that Ranma was pressed up against her back, her lover’s breath warm on her neck, an arm draped across her and cupping a breast.  The succubus had again slipped into their room and joined her in their bed in the early morning without waking her up.

The knock came again, and Akane glanced at the alarm clock and sighed.  It was only a few minutes until she’d have to get up, anyway.  Shifting Ranma’s arm off of her, she slid out of bed, threw on her robe, and hurried over to open the door.

Nabiki was standing in the hallway.  Before Akane had a chance to say anything, her sister stepped into the room and pushed the door closed behind her.  “I need to talk with you and Ranma before you head downstairs.”

_What now?_   “Right.”  Akane turned back to the bed and shook Ranma’s shoulder.  “Come on, lover, wakee wakee.”

The redhead mumbled and rolled over onto her stomach, one hand sliding around under the blanket for a moment as if searching for something.

Akane rolled her eyes at the sound of her sister snickering behind her.  Nabiki asked, “Should I get a bucket of water?”

“No, I have it handled,” Akane assured her.  She slowly reached down to grip the edge of the sheet and blanket at Ranma’s neck, in one fluid motion whipped both off to reveal  the red ‘v’ of fur from Ranma’s shoulders to her tail, and delivered a stinging slap to one firm buttock.

Ranma bounced out of bed and whipped around, eyes searching the room for the threat, then straightened when she found only Akane and Nabiki.  “Uh … mornin’?” she asked, reaching up to tug on her ponytail only to find her hair was loose.

Akane momentarily found herself distracted by the frontal view on full display, her eyes fixed on her lover’s large, firm breasts.  Shaking herself free of her contemplation, she smirked at the red-haired succubus then turned to her sister.  “She’s up, so what did you want to talk to us about?”

/\

“ … so I figure a week at most of Ranma ‘accidentally’ forgetting to dress around the house and they’ll both be more than happy to accept Auntie’s non-suggestion suggestion that they move to her house.  Choreographing _that_ conversation is going to be fun.”

From where she sat on her bed beside Ranma, Akane stared in growing fury at her sister.  She could not believe that Nabiki was suggesting that her lover parade around in the nude in front of the fathers — in front of _Ranma’s own_ father.  And Auntie Nodoka was the one that had actually come up with it!  She’d known the woman had issues, but this ... !

She was opening her mouth to deliver a scathing rebuke when Ranma spoke up.  “I’ll do it.”

Akane turned to stare at the nude, horned redhead sitting crosslegged next to her.  “You will?!” she demanded, stunned at how gleefully her lover had responded.

“Sure, sounds like fun,” Ranma responded with a shrug.

“But ... but ... your father ...”

“ _Especially_ Pop,” Ranma growled out.  “After all the crap he’s put me through, it’ll be nice ta give some of it back to him.”

Akane gave up trying to push words through her shock.  Sure, even before Ranma had accepted her request to ‘go girl’ he had used his girl form to scam food, and at times he had been less than properly concerned about his modesty when female (something Akane hadn’t minded all _that_ much, however loudly she had complained), and she’d been walking around the house in her succubus form in the nude for days (something Akane had minded even less, and hadn’t complained about at all).  But to out and out suggestively _flaunt_ her body — her _nude_ body — at her _father_?  This wasn’t the Ranma she’d known.

_No, this isn’t the_ human _Ranma you knew.  But it_ is _Ranma the_ sex _demon,_ she thought, remembering what Ranma had told her over a week ago, on their second night after the transformation — how she would have to be the one that decided when they made love, because Ranma would _always_ be ready for a round.  And then there was the way Ranma had run away because she had felt ... needy ... around Ryoga.  Maybe this was the succubus equivalent of playing with her food, even if it wasn’t ‘food’ that she’d want to actually ‘eat’, like her father?  _I guess I’ll just have to learn to live with it, and make sure she doesn’t get too outrageous in public._   Then another thought struck her: _This is what_ I’m _going to be like, eventually._

Suddenly, Akane felt sick.

/oOo\

Akane stomped up the street toward school, scowling at everyone she passed — she was so distracted she rarely noticed the way some flinched away, and didn’t much care when she did.

The morning had gone about as she had expected.  Okay, it hadn’t been as _bad_ as she had expected.  Ranma had gone for clueless rather than aggressive — as if walking around the house in her succubus form ( _sans_ wings) without a stitch of clothing on was the most natural thing in the world (which apparently to her it was) — and Akane had to admit that when her favorite red-haired (and red- _furred_ , at the time) girl had bounced into the family room for breakfast the reactions of the fathers had been priceless.  Both fathers’ gaze had locked on her red-tipped, jiggling oversized breasts for a long frozen moment before they’d whipped around and Genma had started yelling.

Then when Nodoka had sternly rebuked her ‘niece’, Ranma had meekly apologized, left ... and returned in a tiny string bikini top and short-shorts that were so tight the line of her cleft could be seen in the fabric.  And Akane had been hard pressed to keep from laughing at Kasumi’s calm acceptance of the additions as sufficient for a succubus’s at-home attire, and the way Nodoka had shut down the fathers’ protests with a stern rebuke about the need to accept Ranma’s new nature and allow her to be comfortable in her own home.

So that part hadn’t been as bad as she’d feared, had actually helped make up for the fact that she hadn’t gone for her usual jog — and wouldn’t until after the baby was born — and been limited to katas while Ranma and Xian Pu had sparred.  She could swear that there had been times in the past week she could _feel_ herself gaining weight and losing muscle tone, and _not_ because of the baby.  The breakfast show had helped distract her from what her morning workout wasn’t, anymore.

Then Ranma had to ruin it all by assuming she’d be walking her to school.  How old did her lover think she was, _five_!?

Akane glanced around hurriedly as she walked through the Furinkan High School gates onto the school grounds, then breathed a sigh of relief — no mass of boys waiting for her in whatever makeshift ‘armor’ sports equipment could provide.  She hadn’t _really_ expected the Hentai Horde to reform now that the word had spread that Ranma had dropped out, not since Kuno had graduated with Nabiki at the end of the last school year, but the niggling possibility had refused to leave her alone.  And with her pregnancy she couldn’t take a chance with a mass brawl, she would have had to swallow her pride and run away.

Looking around again, she found Yuka and Sayuri, the two brunettes sitting under a tree waiting for the morning bell, and hurried over to join them.

Sayuri glanced up at her approach and smiled.  “Hi, Akane, where’s Ranma?” she asked.

“Home, training Kasumi like I told you, where else?” Akane replied as she sat down.  “Did you forget what I told you last night already?”

“Of course not,” Yuka said, “we just thought with the possibility of the Hentai Horde —”  She broke off, shrinking back slightly at the sudden anger on her friend’s face.

“I am not a child to be walked to school!” Akane shouted.  “Just because I’m pregnant — !”

“You’re pregnant?!”

“Did you hear that?”

“When’s the baby due?”

“Who’s the father?”

“Ranma, of course, don’t be an idiot!”

“But those rumors about Ranma being locked again….”

Her two now giggling friends rose to their feet and shifted off to the side as Akane was mobbed by girls from all over the schoolyard.

Sayuri leaned over and whispered, “I would say that the rumors that Akane’s a lesbian have just been laid to rest, wouldn’t you?”

Yuka’s giggles turned into outright laughter.

/oOo\

_What a day!_

A weary raven-haired Tendo almost dragged herself into the locker room for gym class.  She really shouldn’t be this tired, but she’d never been the focus of the entire school like this before.  Sure, there’d been the whole melodrama with her and Ranma, Kuno and Ukyo, along with the party crasher of the week and Ryoga, Xian Pu and Kodachi when they showed up.  The never ending circus had always been prime gossip fodder, but now the others had dropped out (of the circus and school both) or graduated and she was on her own.  The breaks between classes and lunch hour had been the next thing to mob scenes, and even during class she had been able to feel the weight of the classroom’s focus.  She’d had no idea how tiring being the center of attention could be.  Even now, she could catch her name from time to time in the hum of gossip that filled the locker room.

And some of the questions the girls had asked!  It had been all she could do to keep from punting some of them out the window — only the fact that they weren’t martial artists and so couldn’t take a hit like Ranma had enabled her to control her temper.  She’d long known all boys were perverts, and some girls were perverts, but she was rapidly coming to the conclusion that there wasn’t a single nonperverted person in the world.  _Including Kasumi and Auntie Nodoka, if this morning was any indication.  I wonder what skeletons Doc Tofu had hanging in his closet instead of his office?_

Plopping her school bag on the bench in front of her open locker, she pulled out her gym clothes and shoes.  She had been looking forward to this class more and more as the day went on — she _really_ needed to work off some stress.  A class where she was the undisputed champion instead of getting shuffled off to the sidelines like at the dojo wouldn’t hurt, either.  She reached behind to unzip the back of her school uniform’s overdress, slipped the straps off her shoulders to let it fall down around her feet, and started to unbutton her blouse.

Yuka came up beside her with Sayuri on her girlfriend’s other side, and the two dropped their own bags on the bench to open their lockers.  They’d left the classroom at the same time Akane had, but had somehow been delayed, and Akane hid a smirk when she glanced over at their slightly flushed faces.  _Making out in a restroom stall again,_ she thought.

Catching her glance, Yuka leaned over and whispered, “What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“What are you doing?” Yuka repeated.  “You aren’t actually participating, are you?”

“What wouldn’t I —” Akane started to say, then froze.  Her pregnancy.  Sure, it wasn’t like gym class was really strenuous, not for her, but accidents happened and one really good blow to the abdomen ...  She grabbed her gym shoes from off the bench and hurled them into her locker as she shouted, “Damn it!”

Her friends exchanged glances, then looked around at the abruptly silent room.  “I take it that means you don’t have a doctor’s note excusing you?” Sayuri asked cautiously.

Akane tried to answer only to realize she was grinding her teeth together.  She forced her jaw muscles to relax.  “No, I don’t, I forgot,” she ground out.  “I’ll have to get Kasumi to set up an appointment.”  She unclenched her fists and started rebuttoning her blouse.  “I’ll talk to Sensei,” she said with a sigh.

/oOo\

Akane shuffled through the front door, shoulders sagging, and called out to announce her presence as she changed her street shoes for house slippers.  She frowned — no answer.  She finally shrugged.  Kasumi must be shopping. Maybe Ranma was taking a nap before leaving for ‘work’?  While it wasn’t exactly the long, gentle romp she’d hoped for, a bit of a nap snuggled up against Ranma’s furred back would be a pleasant interlude before she started on what homework she had from the first day.

She plodded up the stairs and down the hall to the bedroom she shared with Ranma and opened the door.  No naked, red-furred sex demon sprawled on their bed.  _That leaves the dojo_ , she thought, brightening.  Considering the way Ranma had been almost bouncing with energy that morning, after her first real night of ‘work’ (Akane shuddered), and that she’d be able to ‘feed’ to her heart’s content when ‘working’ tonight, perhaps she’d decided to test out that odd, dark energy she’d manifested when sparring with Ryoga after beginning Kasumi’s training.  _Maybe I’ll get my fun time, after all!_

Dropping her schoolbag beside her desk, she rushed back downstairs, out the side door, and along the path to the dojo — also empty.  And untidy, where was Kasumi?  She usually tidied up as soon as the morning workouts were finished.  _Oh, yeah, she_ was _the workout today.  The furo, then._

And there Akane finally found some of the dojo’s inhabitants, and almost slid the furo door closed as fast as she’d opened it before realizing that no, even though both Kasumi and Xian Pu were naked and in spite of the sounds that had been coming out of her sister’s room when she’d gotten home the previous evening and the way Kasumi was moaning now, the two were _not_ having sex on the floor — not with Kasumi stretched out flat face down on a towel with the Amazon sitting on her buttocks and rubbing along her back.  A massage, then.

Kasumi had twisted her head to view the doorway when the door slid open and Xian Pu glanced up for a moment before looking back down to concentrate on her gripping hands.  “Oh, my, Akane, you’re home!” Kasumi exclaimed.  “You left your cell phone at home, Ranma tried to call you.”

“Oh, oops.  Where is the ... where is she?” Akane asked, her hand on the door ready to slide it closed at the least hint of disapproval on the other two girls’ — well, girl’s and woman’s, really — part.

“That was what she tried to call you about, she ... oooh, that feels good ... she just left.  Miura-san insisted she come in early for tutoring in her schoolwork.”

Akane stared.  “I ... I ... I ... aaaah!” she screamed, then froze when the doorframe her hand was curled around cracked with a sound like a shot.  “Um ... oops?” she repeated, and forced herself to relax.  _Really, Akane, being this angry all the time_ cannot _be good for the baby,_ she thought, forcing down a spurt of what couldn’t _possibly_ be resentment of her passenger.  How could she resent her baby when it wasn’t its fault that she’d had the bright idea of getting pregnant as soon as possible?

“So where are the fathers?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Kasumi replied, “they left while I was exercising and didn’t say where they were going.”

“Oh.”  Struck by a sudden thought, Akane mock-glared down at her older sister.  “You weren’t doing your training in the nude like Ranma does now, were you?” she demanded.

Kasumi just grinned up at her, blushing furiously, then moaned again when Xian Pu hit another particularly tense spot.

_Yep, my oldest sister is a closet exhibitionist,_ Akane thought as she remembered Kasumi parading around in just an apron the previous day. _How did she hide it all these years?_   “Auntie Nodoka and Nabiki?”

“Auntie is arranging for more of her furnishings to be moved down here now that she’ll be moving in permanently, and Nabiki is arranging language lessons for Shampoo.”

“Okay, I’ll just ... let you get on with ... whatever,” Akane said hesitantly, then closed the door.  She stood there thinking for a long moment, until another moan from the furo, longer and deeper, had her blushing as furiously as her sister.  She hastily walked out of the bathroom, then slowly made her way upstairs and found her cell phone sitting on her desk.  A quick speed dial code later and she was listening to the other phone ringing.

_“Hey, Akane, what’s up?”_ Sayuri asked.

“Sayuri, hi,” Akane replied.  “Did you and Yuka have plans for the afternoon?  Mine kind of fell through.”

_“Just hanging out at my place, when I got home I found a note saying that my parents would be out until late.”_

Translation: they had the apartment to themselves, and so were planning on an afternoon of hot, sweaty, passionate sex.

Akane hesitated for a long moment.  _Why not?  Ranma_ said _I could.  If she can have_ her _fun, why can’t I?_   Nonchalantly, she asked, “Ranma’s already gone for her ‘work’, would you mind if I joined you?”

_“ ... Sure, come on over, we’ll be happy to have you.”_

“I’ll be there as soon as I can, ‘bye.”  Akane broke the connection and tossed the cell phone on her bed as she hurried to her wardrobe, hands reaching behind her for her school uniform’s zipper.


End file.
